Pennsylvania Senate resolution recognizes period of Jewish High Holy Days

[COLGATE4]

47. Merely restating the three prongs of the Lemon

test doesn't mean you necessarilyunderstand it. BTW and just to correct the record I never said I was a Constititional lawyer - I merely said I have a good background in Constitutional Law. OK. Let's look at Lemon:

1 - The law must have a (at least one) secular legislative purpose. It may have other purposes, but so long as it has a secular purpose as one of its purposes it passes this prong. Seeing as politicians in state legislatures spend most of their time issuing 'proclamations' naming the Honey Bee 'Insect of the Month' or 'Rotarians the Mens' Club of the Year', this doesn't look any different. Doesn't get much more secular as a legislative purpose than honoring a given group of political constituents. What is your legal contention that this is not a secular purpose?

2- Principal or primary effect of the law can't either advance or foster religion. Nothing about this advances or fosters religion. The Jews in PA gain nothing by it, nor does it promote Judaism or encourage people to go out and convert to Judaism.

3- Law can't foster an excessive entanglement between gov't and religion. The key word is excessive. Here, there's no entanglement at all. But in other cases even if there is some entanglement if the entanglement if it's determined to not be 'excessive' the courts have held the law constitutional: upholding prayers opening legislative sessions (Marsh v Chambers); state tax exemptions for religious organizations upheld (Walz v Tax Comm'n of New York).