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Washington State Begins Rulemaking To Head Off Holiday Display Confusion At Capitol

By Howard M. Friedman

In anticipation of this year's holiday season, the Washington state Department of General Administration last week issued a Pre-proposal Statement of Inquiry and a letter announcing the start of a rule-making process on use of public areas of the Capitol campus. The Tacoma News Tribune on Friday reported that the proposal seeks to avoid last year's confusion which it described:

A handful of displays had been allowed in a third-floor hallway of the Legislative Building, not far from a 30-foot noble fir sponsored by the Association of Washington Business for the holidays. A real estate agent then added a Nativity creche. After that, the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation put up an atheist placard equating religion with myth, two Christian displays were added mocking atheism, and a Jewish group displayed a menorah. Fourteen applications had been filed when the department issued a moratorium on further displays.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on July 19, 2009 (boomark / email).