Opinion ID: 787961
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Freethought and the Endorsement Test

Text: 16 In Freethought, we began our analysis of the constitutionality of the Chester County plaque by first considering which test should be applied to determine whether the plaque violated the Establishment Clause. We decided that the correct test was not Lemon (which the district court had applied), but the endorsement test. In arriving at this conclusion, we noted that the Supreme Court had begun to rely increasingly on the endorsement test in recent years and had criticized Lemon as being vague and, consequently, unpredictable in its application. Id. at 256-57 (citing County of Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 631, 109 S.Ct. 3086 (O'Connor, J., concurring)); Lamb's Chapel v. Ctr. Moriches Union Free Sch. Dist., 508 U.S. 384, 398-99, 113 S.Ct. 2141, 124 L.Ed.2d 352 (1993) (Scalia, J., concurring) (criticizing Lemon ); Wallace, 472 U.S. at 108, 105 S.Ct. 2479 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting); see also Tenafly, 309 F.3d at 144. 17 In applying the endorsement test, we identified two factors as particularly critical: first, the message that the reasonable observer receives from the display, i.e., whether the display sends a message of government endorsement of religion; and second, the context in which the religious display appears. 18 [T]he reasonable observer in the endorsement inquiry must be deemed aware of the history and context of the community and forum in which the religious display appears.... Nor can the knowledge attributed to the reasonable observer be limited to the information gleaned simply from viewing the challenged display.... 19 [O]ur hypothetical observer also should know the general history of the place in which the [object] is displayed.... An informed member of the community will know how the public space in question has been used in the past. 20 Capitol Square, 515 U.S. at 780, 115 S.Ct. 2440 (O'Connor, J., concurring in part and concurring in the judgment) (internal citations omitted). Thus, the reasonable observer is presumed to know the general history of both the religious display and the community in which it is erected. The reasonable observer is also more knowledgeable than the uninformed passerby. Freethought, 334 F.3d at 259. 21 In addition, every Establishment Clause challenge requires a fact-specific, case-by-case analysis. See Lynch, 465 U.S. at 678, 104 S.Ct. 1355; County of Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 629-30, 109 S.Ct. 3086 (O'Connor, J., concurring). This is mainly due to the fact that the particular context in which a basically religious display appears can alter the message of this display such that it is no longer endorsing religion, but merely acknowledging it. See Lynch, 465 U.S. at 692, 104 S.Ct. 1355 (O'Connor, J., concurring). Admittedly, the text of the Ten Commandments contains an inherently religious message. Freethought, 334 F.3d at 262 (citing Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39, 41, 101 S.Ct. 192, 66 L.Ed.2d 199 (1980)). However, posting the Commandments can still, under certain circumstances, be considered a secular display. In Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578, 107 S.Ct. 2573, 96 L.Ed.2d 510 (1987), the Supreme Court stated that a prior decision forbidding the posting of the Ten Commandments did not mean that no use could ever be made of the Ten Commandments, or that the Ten Commandments played an exclusively religious role in the history of Western Civilization. Edwards, 482 U.S. at 593-94, 107 S.Ct. 2573. Thus, it is well-established that the context in which an otherwise religious display appears can change the reasonable observer's perception of it. See Lynch, 465 U.S. at 692, 104 S.Ct. 1355 (O'Connor, J., concurring); County of Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 630, 109 S.Ct. 3086 (O'Connor, J., concurring) (stating that the history and ubiquity of a government action contributes to the context that affects the reasonable observer's perception of endorsement); see also King v. Richmond County, 331 F.3d 1271 (11th Cir.2003) (holding that a superior court's official seal depicting two tablets representing the Ten Commandments did not send a message of endorsement because of various contextual factors surrounding the seal's appearance and use). 22 Accordingly, the Court in Freethought considered various facts concerning the context of the plaque, including its history and age, its status as a long-standing fixture on an historic monument, and the fact that it was displayed by itself. The Court held that the reasonable observer must certainly be presumed to know that the plaque has been affixed to the Courthouse for a long time, and would therefore view the plaque itself (rather than the text of the Ten Commandments in the abstract) as a reminder of historical events in Chester County rather than as an endorsement of religion by county officials. Freethought, 334 F.3d at 265. The Court also created a model of the reasonable observer. It found that the reasonable observer in that case would know the approximate age of the plaque, and the fact that Chester County had not moved, maintained or highlighted the plaque since it was erected in 1920. The reasonable observer would also be aware of the general history of Chester County. Id. at 260. 23 The Court found that, based on this knowledge, the reasonable observer would conclude that the decision to leave the plaque in place was significantly motivated by a desire to preserve the plaque as an historical artifact. Id. at 265. Also, a reasonable observer would understand that over time additions to historic buildings such as the courthouse, which is included in the National Register of Historic Places, can become part of the monument and its history. Id. at 266. Considering Chester County's interest in historical preservation, and the reasonable observer's understanding of the plaque's significance to the courthouse's history, we concluded that the county's refusal to remove the plaque did not send a message of endorsing religion. Such a refusal to remove an historical artifact presents a very different scenario than, for example, attempting to install a new monument incorporating the Ten Commandments. Id. at 265. In the latter instance, a reasonable observer is much more likely to conclude that the government is attempting to endorse the religious message contained in the text of the Commandments because no legitimate secular motivation for erecting the monument (such as historic preservation) is apparent. 24 In addition, Chester County took no steps to highlight or celebrate the plaque or its contents. In fact, the entranceway nearest the plaque had been closed, making its presence less prominent, and supporting a perception that, by leaving the plaque affixed to the facade in its original historical location, Chester County was not attempting to endorse its religious content. Id. at 266-67. In not changing the location of the plaque to the main entrance or otherwise actively drawing attention to the plaque, Chester County and its Commissioners' conduct indicates neutrality toward the plaque and its text. Id. at 270 (Bright, J., concurring). Thus, the Freethought Court held that the reasonable observer would not believe that Chester County commissioners were attempting to endorse religion by refusing to remove the plaque.