Two and a half years ago, the Commissioners of Davidson County, North Carolina decided to inscribe “In God We Trust” on the façade of the Government Center in Lexington, NC. Yesterday, in Lambeth v. Board of Comm’rs. of Davidson County, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to that decision. It held that the Commissioners’ action passed muster under the Lemon test.
In the Court’s view, the County Commissioners had at least some secular purpose. “In God We Trust” is the US national motto (36 USC Sec. 302). Even though there were also religious motivations, the secular ones were not just a pretext. Secondly, the 4th Circuit decided that given the long-standing patriotic uses of the motto, a reasonable observer would not view this as an endorsement of religion. Finally, the court found that this did not excessively entangle government with religion. It indicated that the concern about political divisiveness along religious lines under this strand of Lemon is limited to cases involving financial subsidies to parochial schools.
