No. 17-1717, No. 18-18 In the Supreme Court of the United States THE AMERICAN LEGION, et al., Petitioners, v. AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION, et al., Respondents. MARYLAND-NATIONAL CAPITAL PARK AND PLANNING COMMISSION, Petitioner, v. AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION, et al., Respondents. __________ ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT __________ BRIEF OF BAPTIST JOINT COMMITTEE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE, CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS, EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA, GENERAL SYNOD OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, AND REVEREND DR. J. HERBERT NELSON, II, AS STATED CLERK OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.) AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS __________ K. Hollyn Hollman Douglas Laycock Jennifer L. Hawks Counsel of Record Baptist Joint Committee 727 E. Dean Keeton St. 200 Maryland Ave., NE Austin, TX 78705 Washington, DC 20002 512-232-1224 202-544-4226 [email protected] [email protected] QUESTIONS PRESENTED This brief addresses two questions: 1. Whether government may display a massive Latin cross in the center of a major intersection? 2. Whether, if the Court were to permit govern- ment to continue displaying a cross that has been in place for many decades, the opinion should be writ- ten in a way that does not authorize government to erect new crosses? i TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Authorities .................................................. iv Introduction .................................................................1 Interest of Amici ..........................................................1 Summary of Argument ...............................................2 Argument .....................................................................5 I. The Bladensburg Cross Violates Government’s Obligation to Be Neutral Between Competing Religious Teachings. ..............................................5 A. Petitioners’ Allegedly Secular Rationali- zations for the Cross Would Desacralize the Most Sacred Symbol of Christianity. ........5 B. The Latin Cross Is a Uniquely Sectarian Symbol. .............................................................9 C. Government Must Be Neutral As Between Religious Teachings, Even in Its Endorse- ments. ............................................................. 12 D. No Earlier Decision Authorizes What Peti- tioners Seek Here. .......................................... 18 E. The Unconstitutionality of the Bladensburg Cross Does Not Imply the Unconstitutio- nality of Every Cross in Every Government Venue. ............................................................. 20 II. Government’s Obligation to Remain Neutral Between Competing Religious Teachings Is Deeply Rooted in the Original Understanding. .. 22 III. If the Judgment Is Reversed, It Should Be on a Ground That Does Not Authorize Govern- ments to Sponsor New Crosses. .......................... 31 ii Conclusion ................................................................. 38 Appendix: The Individual Amici............................. A-1 iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963) ........................................ 28-29 American Jewish Committee v. City of Chicago, 827 F.2d 120 (7th Cir. 1987) ................................ 23 Baker v. Fales, 16 Mass. 488 (1820) ......................... 34 Board of Education v. Minor, 23 Ohio St. 211 (1872) ......................................... 28 Brown v. Board of Education, 349 U.S. 294 (1955) .............................................. 32 Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753 (1995) ................................ 36 City Council v. Benjamin, 2 Strob. (33 S.C.L.) 508 (Ct. App. 1848) .............. 29 Commonwealth v. Cooke, 7 Am. L. Reg. 417 (Boston Police Ct. 1859) ........ 27 Commonwealth v. Kneeland, 37 Mass. 206 (1838) ............................................. 29 County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573 (1989) .............................................. 15 Donahoe v. Richards, 38 Me. 376 (1854) .................. 27 Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990) .............................................. 12 Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947) ... 26 Gabel v. City of Houston, 29 Tex. 335 (1867) ........... 29 Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012) ................. 12 iv In re Navy Chaplaincy, 534 F.3d 756 (D.C. Cir. 2008) .............................. 12 Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992) .................. 13, 16 Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971) ............ 3, 12 Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984) ................... 20 McCreary County v. ACLU, 545 U.S. 844 (2005) .............................................. 13 People ex rel. Ring v. Board of Education, 92 N.E. 251 (Ill. 1910) .......................................... 28 People v. Ruggles, 8 Johns. 290 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1811) ....................... 29 Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, 555 U.S. 460 (2009) .............................................. 14 Salazar v. Buono, 559 U.S. 700 (2009) ................. 3, 18 Schempp v. Abington School District, 184 F. Supp. 391 (E.D. Pa. 1960) ........................ 29 Specht v. Commonwealth, 8 Pa. 312 (1848) ............. 29 State ex rel. Freeman v. Scheve, 91 N.W. 846 (Neb. 1902) ...................................... 28 State ex rel. Weiss v. District Board, 44 N.W. 967 (Wis. 1890) ...................................... 28 State v. Chandler, 2 Harr. (2 Del.) 553 (Ct. Gen. Sess. 1837) ........... 29 Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U.S. 565 (2014) ........................................ 12, 19 Trump v. Hawaii, 138 S. Ct. 2392 (2018) ................ 12 Trunk v. City of San Diego, 629 F.3d 1099 (9th Cir. 2011) .............................. 21 v Updegraph v. Commonwealth, 11 Serg. & Rawl. 394 (Pa. 1824) .......................... 29 Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677 (2005) ..... 18, 32-33 Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 2239 (2015) ................. 16 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society v. Village of Stratton, 536 U.S. 150 (2002) ............ 23 Constitutions and Statutes N.Y. Const. of 1777, art. XXXVI ............................... 34 S.C. Const. of 1790, art. VIII .................................... 35 U.S. Const., amend. I Establishment Clause............. 12, 15-16, 22, 25, 32 generally ..................................................... 4, 16, 30 Secondary Authorities American Battlefield Trust, 10 Facts: Civil War Battlefield Markers, Monuments, and Tablets, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/ 10-facts-civil-war-battlefield-monuments- markers-and-tablets ............................................ 27 Morton Borden, Jews, Turks, and Infidels (1984) ... 29 Thomas E. Buckley, Church and State in Revolu- tionary Virginia 1776-1787 (1977) ..... 24-25, 33-34 Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (1865) .............. 16 Courtroom Friezes: North and South Walls, https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/north andsouthwalls.pdf ................................................ 19 vi Josefin Dolsten, Mormons are baptizing Holocaust victims, Lubavitcher rebbe and relatives of celebrities, researcher says, Jewish Tele- graphic Agency (Dec. 22, 2017) .............................9 H.J. Eckenrode, Separation of Church and State in Virginia (1971 reprint) .................................... 25 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Steps to Peace, https://stepstopeace.org/ ........................... 10 John C. Jeffries, Jr. & James E. Ryan, A Political History of the Establishment Clause, 100 Mich. L. Rev. 279 (2001) ...................................... 27 St. John, The Gospel According to Saint John (1st century C.E.) ......................................... 3, 5, 11 Barry A. Kosmin & Seymour P. Lachman, One Nation Under God: Religion in Contemporary American Society (1993) ......................................17 Daniel J. Lasker, Jewish Philosophical Polemics Against Christianity in the Middle Ages (2d ed. 2007) ............................................................... 10 Douglas Laycock, Government-Sponsored Reli- gious Displays: Transparent Rationalizations and Expedient Post-Modernism, 61 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 1211 (2011) ...................................... 33 Douglas Laycock, "Noncoercive" Support for Reli- gion: Another False Claim About the Establish- ment Clause, 26 Val. L. Rev. 37 (1991) ......... 27-28 Douglas Laycock, “Nonpreferential” Aid to Reli- gion: A False Claim About Original Intent, 27 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 875 (1986) ..................... 25 Marc Leepson, Flag: An American Biography (2005) .................................................................... 26 vii John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), in Second Treatise of Government and a Letter Concerning Toleration (Mark Goldie ed. 2016) .. 26 St. Luke, The Acts of the Apostles (1st century C.E.) ...................................................................... 11 James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785)................. 26 Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of the Faith, http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/ Maimonides%27%20Principles%20(DRB)% 20.pdf .................................................................... 10 St. Mark, The Gospel According to Saint Mark (1st century C.E.) ................................................. 11 William G. McLoughlin, New England Dissent (1971) .................................................................... 34 Jacob Conrad Meyer, Church and State in Massa- chusetts from 1740 to 1833 (2012 reprint) .......... 34 Mark Oppenheimer, A Twist on Posthumous Bap- tisms Leaves Jews Miffed at Mormon Rite, N.Y. Times (March 2, 2012) ...........................................9 St. Paul, The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (1st century C.E.) ...................... 11 St. Paul, The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians (1st century C.E.) .................. 11 Pew Research Center, America’s Changing Reli- gious Landscape (2015), http://www.pewforum. org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious- landscape/ ....................................................... 10, 17 Stephen D. Solomon, Ellery’s Protest (2007) ............ 29 viii Anson Phelps Stokes, Church and State in the United States (1950) ...................................... 34-35 U.S. Census Bureau, Population Clock, www. census.gov ............................................................ 17 ix