Supreme Court Allows Indiana to Keep Good Friday Holiday
Dateline: 03/06/00
The U.S. Supreme Court today allowed Indiana to continue its observance of Good Friday as an official holiday.
The Court refused without comment to hear an appeal stating that the state's observance of Good Friday including giving its employees the day off violated the constitutional requirement of separation of church and state.
Brought by Indiana resident, Russell Bridenbaugh of Bloomington, the appeal argued that the state's practice, which began in 1941, unconstitutionally advances or promotes the Christian religion.
A federal magistrate dismissed Bridenbaugh's original 1997 suite without a trial. In July of 1999, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the magistrate's dismissal by a 2-1 vote. Bridenbaugh subsequently appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
In writing their decision the Court of Appeals panel found that Indiana's purpose in observing of Good Friday as a state holiday was not motivated by religion.
The panel's majority opinion stated, "Indiana does not celebrate the religious aspects of Good Friday; for Indiana, the holiday has absolutely no religious significance. To Indiana, Good Friday is nothing but a Friday falling in the middle of the long vacationless spring -- a day which employees should take off to rejuvenate themselves."
Bridenbaugh's appeal argued that "Good Friday is a purely religious holiday," which had been "secularized" by its association with the Easter egg hunts and sales.
Reference Resources
The 1st Amendment to the Constitution
The basis for the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state.Separating Church and State
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