Jersey City
Mayor Bret Schundler will host a press conference in support of the preservation of religious liberty on Monday, December 21, 1998. Scheduled to take place at noon in Council Chambers at City Hall, the conference will serve as an explanation of why the City has no holiday display on its front lawn this year. The Mayor, religious leaders, other community leaders, and Jersey City residents will attend.

Mayor Schundler said: "Our view in Jersey City is straightforward. We believe that a government should be allowed to recognize the richly diverse cultures and arts of its people. By suing Jersey City to prevent us from displaying the holiday symbols of our Christian and Jewish residents, the ACLU is suggesting that Jersey City can only honor its diverse cultures if it censors out religious symbols connected with these two particular groups. That represents an explicit discrimination against these religions."

United States District Judge Dickinson Debevoise of the Federal District Court had upheld the City's holiday display in December, 1995 against a challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Rutgers Constitutional Law Center, an entity which is partially funded with state tax dollars. However, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that original decision last December. The City is appealing this decision. A federal appeals court heard the case ACLU v. Schundler in August and will probably hand down a decision early 1999. If there is an appeal of this decision, the Mayor plans to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Last year's court decision discriminates against the religious elements of our citizens' cultural heritages. Government should not be anti-religious. We believe the critical issue should be whether or not government is balanced in its celebration of the ethnic, cultural, and religious traditions of its people, and acts in a way which is non-prejudicial," Schundler added.

According to the Almanac of American Politics, Jersey City is the most ethnically diverse city in the United States. As the home of Ellis Island, it had been the City's tradition not just to tolerate the cultural diversity of its people, but to honor people's cultural heritages.

Accordingly, it has been the long established practice of Jersey City to sponsor, offer financial support, and provide support services for a variety of events, concerts, parades, festivals, flag-raisings, and art shows throughout the year on the grounds of City Hall.

The City has retained the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a prominent public interest law firm, to defend its right to display the creche and menorah.

"I would like to thank the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty for helping us continue this fight, at no cost to the City's taxpayers. The people of Jersey City appreciate their support."

Last year Mayor Schundler founded the Jersey City Religious Freedom Defense Fund.