AMONG the many consequential cases to be heard by the Supreme Court this term isTown of Greece v Galloway, a clash over the meaning of the first-amendment rule that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. Some believe the court should take this opportunity to reject the “no endorsement” interpretation of this provision first articulated in 1984 by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. In her concurring opinion in Lynch v Donnelly, Justice O’Connor agreed with four of her colleagues that the inclusion of a nativity scene in a public Christmas display does not violate the constitution, but her reasoning grew out of a novel approach to the provision:
