regulation violated the free speech rights of public
broadcasters because it curtailed the expression of
editorial opinion that was at “the heart of First
Amendment protection.”
Freedom of Religion The establishment clause of
the First Amendment bars the government from
preferring one religion over another. During the
1980’s, the Supreme Court handed down a number
of decisions that challenged the separation of
church and state. The constitutionality of including
religious symbols in public holiday displays came be-
fore the Court inLynch v. Donnelly(1984) and again
inAllegheny County v. Greater Pittsburgh ACLU(1989).
InLynch, the Court ruled that an annual city park
Christmas display that included a nativity scene was
constitutional because the scene was displayed with
other Christmas symbols and was used to promote
retail sales and goodwill, not to endorse a particular
religion. InAllegheny County, however, the Court
ruled that a nativity scene placed inside the Alle-
gheny County Courthouse with the words “Gloria in
Excelsis Deo,” referring to the words sung by the an-
gels at the Nativity (Luke 2:14), did endorse religion
and violated the Constitution. At the same time, the
Court upheld the display of a nearby menorah,
which appeared along with a Christmas tree and a
sign saluting liberty, reasoning that the combined
display of the tree, the sign, and the menorah did
not endorse one particular religion but instead rec-
ognized that both Christmas and Hanukkah were
part of the same winter-holiday season, which had a
secular status in society.
Members of the religious movement Interna-
tional Society for Krishna Consciousness wanted to
walk among the crowd, distribute flyers, and solicit
donations during the Minnesota State Fair. How-
ever, state fair organizers required the group to dis-
tribute its literature in a fixed location along with
the other fair vendors. The Court ruled inHeffron v.
International Society for Krishna Consciousness(1981)
that the Krishna members had not been discrimi-
nated against, because fair organizers had treated all
groups the same, regardless of their religious or po-
litical affiliations. The Court also ruled that the fair
organizers had legitimate interest in confining ven-
dors to a designated space because of the need to
avoid congestion with the large amounts of pedes-
trian traffic at the fair.
During the 1980’s, some states passed “blue” laws
requiring businesses and sporting events to be closed
on Sundays and “Sabbath” laws that required em-
ployers to give employees the day off on their chosen
day of worship. However, inThornton v. Caldor(1985),
the Court ruled that state laws that endorsed a spe-
cific religious practice, like observing a Sabbath,
were unconstitutional.
InGoldman v. Weinberger(1986), S. Simcha Gold-
man, an Orthodox Jew and ordained rabbi serv-
ing as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, sued the mili-
tary after being punished for wearing his yarmulke
(skullcap) indoors while in uniform, in violation
of military regulations. The Court upheld the Air
Force penalties against Goldman, ruling that the
military’s interest in enforcing its dress code out-
weighed the officer’s religious obligation to keep his
head covered.934 Supreme Court decisions The Eighties in America
U.S. Supreme Court Justices
During the 1980’sJustices are nominated to the Supreme Court
by the president and approved by the U.S. Sen-
ate. The table below lists the justices who served
during the 1980’s. The names are placed in the
order in which they took the judicial oath of of-
fice and thereby started their tenure on the
court. Asterisks (*) indicate the terms of chief
justices.Justice Term
William J. Brennan 1956-1990
Potter Stewart 1958-1981
Byron White 1962-1993
Thurgood Marshall 1967-1991
Warren E. Burger 1969-1986*
Harry A. Blackmun 1970-1994
Lewis F. Powell, Jr. 1972-1987
William H. Rehnquist 1972-1986
1986-2005*
John Paul Stevens 1975-
Sandra Day O’Connor 1981-2006
Antonin Scalia 1986-
Anthony Kennedy 1988-