December Church-State Guidance Offered Online To Public Officials

For government officials seeking guidance on the legal rules surrounding holiday displays and activities, at least two organizations have memos on their web sites offering their interpretations of the relevant precedents. Liberty Counsel's 7-page "Christmas Memo" covers publicly and privately sponsored religious holiday displays, religious holidays in public schools, and public school students in the context of religious holidays. The Anti-Defamation League has posted its "December Holiday Guidelines for Public Schools". Headlined "The December Dilemma", the web page discusses religion as an educational lesson, holiday assemblies and other public school activities, public school students performing religious music, and decorating public school classrooms and grounds with holiday symbols.