Appeals court rules "In God We Trust" no infringement of Establishment Clause News
Appeals court rules "In God We Trust" no infringement of Establishment Clause

[JURIST] A federal appeals court Friday upheld a lower court ruling that the inscription "In God We Trust" above the doorway of a county government building in North Carolina [WEMY-TV photo] is not an unconstitutional infringement of the separation of church and state. A panel of the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the privately-funded inscription served a patriotic rather than a religious purpose. Read the appeal court opinion [PDF]. Later this spring the US Supreme Court is expected to rule on the related question of whether public displays of the Ten Commandments on government property infringe the US Constitution's Establishment Clause. From North Carolina, the Winston-Salem Journal has more.