Ohio's
State Motto Upheld
On March 16,
2001, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled 9-4
that Ohio's 42 year-old state motto, "With God, all things
are possible," is constitutional. The Court ruled that the
motto does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,
which forbids Congress from making any law "respecting an establishment
of religion."
The full appeals
court reversed a 2-1 decision by a panel of three Sixth Circuit
judges that found the motto to be unconstitutional last April. The
appeals court agreed with the lower trial court and found that the
motto is not an endorsement by the state of Christianity and is
permissible as long as the state does not attribute the words to
their source (Jesus) from the New Testament.
The American
Civil Liberties Union representing a Presbyterian minister had sued
the state arguing that the motto equaled a state endorsement of
Christianity and violated the separation of church and state.
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