Tuckahoe Village Departments

TUCKAHOE TALK
With Mayor John Fitzpatrick

Constitutional Remedy

June, 2008

The words "For God And Country" adorn the front of Village Hall. The Supreme Court has ruled that this motto, as well as "In God We Trust" does not breach the First Amendment's Establishment Clause set forth in our constitution. The actual language states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This clause is more broadly interpreted prohibiting the government from establishing a religion, from favoring one religion over another or from favoring religion generally over nonreligious beliefs. If the Village Hall engraving stopped at just this motto, I probably wouldn't be writing about it. However, it also includes two crosses on either side. Recently I received a letter from an attorney regarding these two crosses. He stated his belief that this Christian symbolism breached the Establishment Clause. I had already inherited one constitutional lawsuit in regards to the First Amendment; that suit recently settled and was a claim of infringement on the freedom of the press. I was certainly hoping to avoid inheriting another court case in my first year as Mayor. I asked our village attorney to investigate whether the village was in fact in violation, since these stone engravings were decorations left over from the time when our building served as a Catholic school from 1961 to 1980. It didn't take him long to come back with his answer. He stated case law allowed the words "For God and Country" to stay; but the crosses should go.

The First Amendment's Establishment Clause could just as easily be called "the separation of church and state clause". While that phrase is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, credit for the concept belongs to British philosopher John Locke. It always interests me to hear politicians' and pundits' interpretations on the thoughts of our founding fathers when arguing any constitutional issue. Any resident who has read the works of David McCullough or watched the HBO series based on his biography of John Adams realizes that in the time of our country's formation the founding fathers were of many minds. They fought adamantly for the best course of action and even the language to express their thoughts. I won't be chiming in on what was going through the minds of the founding fathers; I leave that interpretation to the Supreme Court, which amusingly can change with the proverbial political wind.

While the Constitution endeavors to keep the church and state separate, some individuals (elected and non-elected), are intent on keeping them linked. Take for example the municipality with the Ten Commandments, or even the recent fight between our New York Cardinal and former elected Rudy Giuliani regarding the receiving of communion during the Pope's visit. The Pope's long-term position is that pro-choice politicians should be deprived of communion. I feel strongly in the rights of religious leaders to set policy for their congregations, but I am also grateful to all the elected officials starting with the founding fathers that have made this a country in which any religion may be practiced freely.

So what am I going to do about the crosses? you might be asking yourself. Obviously I could disregard the letter from the offended attorney and hope we are not sued. Even if some attorney were to represent us pro bono, we might still then be liable for damages or legal fees if we lost. Recent settlement of the freedom of the press case cost the Village $25,000. The writing of this column further complicates choosing to do nothing. It illustrates that I had been duly warned, and chose to disregard advice of counsel. In fact the attorneys of my world were quite adamant that I shouldn't even write this column. I ignored this piece of advice because contrary to what attorneys believe they are not always correct. I felt it was more important for the public to know. I believe the most sensible course of action is to remedy this and return our thoughts and energy to more productive business. With that in mind I have ordered bronze plaques that catalog the years and uses of the building and these can easily be used to cover the crosses. The building served as the Main Street School 1921- 1960 and Assumption School 1961-1980. Upon taking office I swore to uphold the constitution. This statement in reality means I swore to uphold the court's interpretation of the constitution's words. So, I will resolve this by doing what the current case law supports is prudent.

Personally I am of the mind that this is much ado about nothing. My reasoning is that no one in Tuckahoe set out to test the limits of our Constitution. It should be about intent and no one intentionally engraved any religious symbols while this was a municipal building. I know government always needs to be sensitive, but for a few there is never enough sensitivity. Recently, a resident commented on our board's insensitivity regarding the approval of Arbor Day for May 5 because it conflicted with those who might celebrate Cinco de Mayo. In reality, celebrating a day of one's heritage shouldn't preclude others from planting a tree. I could have told him that it would be perfectly acceptable for him to wear something Cinco de Mayo appropriate and go plant a tree to show his sensitivity to both days. Truth is, perhaps that too would be deemed insensitive and besides I didn't think of it until just now.