Washington D.C., Nov 14, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeals court decision, which states that the inscription "In God We Trust" on a government building in North Carolina does not violate church-state separation.
Two attorneys who argued that the inscription on the government building in Lexington was unconstitutional had filed the lawsuit. But a U.S. appeals court ruled that the lawsuit failed to show that the display had no legitimate secular purpose, that it has the effect of endorsing religion or that it has resulted in an excessive entanglement of government and religion, reported Reuters.
The appeals court said Congress first authorized the phrase "In God We Trust" on coins in 1865, and Congress made it the national motto in 1956. It is inscribed above the speaker's chair in the U.S. House of Representatives and above the main door of the U.S. Senate chamber.The high court rejected the appeal Monday without any comment or recorded dissent