Trends in the Supreme Court: Mr. Jefferson’s Crumbling Wall – A Comment on Lynch v. Donnelly

Abstract

This critique strives to makes sense of the Court’s decision in Lynch v. Donnelly within the context of the First Amendment’s separation of church and state and the traditional wall that was characterized to distinguish such a separation during this U.S.’s founding years. This paper asserts that instead of a wall, the separation may best be characterized as a bridge allowing government to favor one religion only when the religion produces a symbiotic effect beneficial to the government.

Keywords: First Amendment, Church State Separation