http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051114/...rt_religion_dc
11/14/05
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a ruling that the inscription "In God We Trust" on the front of a government building in North Carolina does not violate church-state separation.
The justices rejected an appeal of the decision that dismissed a lawsuit by two attorneys who had challenged as unconstitutional the phrase over the main entrance to the county's government center in Lexington, North Carolina.
The phrase, written in 18-inch block letters, was more prominently displayed than the name of the building, which was the only other writing on the front facade, according to the lawsuit.
A U.S. appeals court ruled that the lawsuit failed to show that the display had no legitimate secular purpose, that it has the effect of endorsing religion or that it has resulted in an excessive entanglement of government and religion.
The appeals court said Congress first authorized the phrase "In God We Trust" on coins in 1865, and Congress made it the national motto in 1956. It is inscribed above the speaker's chair in the U.S. House of Representatives and above the main door of the U.S. Senate chamber.
Attorneys for the two lawyers asked the justices to set aside the appeals court's ruling and send the case back for reconsideration in view of the Supreme Court's decision in June that Kentucky courthouses violated church-state separation by putting copies of the Ten Commandments on display.
The high court rejected the appeal without any comment or recorded dissent.
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