Judge Declines to Bar Menorah Display in Park
Promising to schedule a trial on the case before next Hanukkah, a federal judge declined Friday to issue an order that would bar the city of Beverly Hills from allowing the display of a menorah in a public park near City Hall.
The Chabad organization of Hasidic Jews installed a 28-foot menorah in Beverly Gardens Park on Dec. 10, prompting the American Jewish Congress to sue for its removal as part of a campaign against the public display of creches and other religious objects.
U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter ruled on Dec. 13 that the nine-stemmed candelabra could stay, but only if it were displayed next to a Christmas tree, which the U.S. Supreme Court has found to be a secular object. City workers then draped a nearby tree with colored lights. On Friday, Hatter vacated that order but required the city to inform the American Jewish Congress if there are any new applications to erect religious displays on government property.
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