[T]he menorah need not be excluded from this particular display. The Christmas tree alone in the Pittsburgh location does not en
dorse Christian belief; and, on the facts before us, the addition of the menorah "cannot fairly be understood to" result in the simultaneous endorsement of Christian and Jewish faiths. . . . On the contrary, for purposes of the Establishment Clause, the city's overall display must be understood as conveying the city's secular recognition of different traditions for celebrating the winter-holiday season. —Justice Harry Blackmun, Opinion of the Court, County of Allegheny v. ACLU 1989 According to Blackmun’s decision, why was the display of the menorah and Christmas tree constitutional? It was located in the right place. It did not include religious symbols. It endorsed two major world religions. It did not communicate a religious message
County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union (1989), was a Supreme Court case about the constitutionality of the Christmas nativity scene and the public Hanukkah menorah, holiday displays that were constructed every year on public property in downtown Pittsburgh.
The main idea in Madison's federalist paper #51 is that checks and balances can and should be put in place in a federal government in order to keep any single branch from becoming too powerful.
