Editorial: Commissioners should take action to protect holiday displays
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The tree outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse is 23 feet tall. It is covered with bright lights and red bows.
Nearby stands a blue and white menorah in a silvery frame.
These aren’t unusual for the season. Symbols of Christmas and Hanukkah are everywhere.
But these types of holiday displays haven’t been seen outside the courthouse for 26 years. A 1997 resolution passed by the board of commissioners forbids unattended temporary displays.
It’s the kind of thing that might seem like it plays into the “war on Christmas” narrative.
It doesn’t.
The point of the resolution was to stand in the face of the Ku Klux Klan, preventing the organization from raising a 6-foot cross. That’s a symbol difficult to sustain on public ground as a religious icon, but the Klan has done more, using it for racial intimidation.
Commissioners took their step to block that. But to be legal, a government action must be fair. It must treat all people the same, and therefore it must be uniform. It must treat the Klan no different than a church or youth group or political party. The 1997 resolution reflects that kind of across-the-board policy.
But does it prevent the county from raising its own displays?
Solicitor Melissa Guiddy says no, that it refers to third parties. Tom Balya was one of the commissioners in 1997 who passed the resolution. He says yes, and that third parties were never addressed in the language or intent.
Laws often have unanticipated loopholes. This would be one.
There is no reason that the combination of menorah and Christmas tree cannot be used in front of the courthouse. Other cities and counties do.
Allegheny County, in fact, is the blueprint, with a narrow U.S. Supreme Court victory over the American Civil Liberties Union in 1989. A manger scene in the staircase of that county courthouse was seen as too much of an endorsement of one faith. A multifaith and secular display outside was deemed acceptable, which is why there is a tree outside the City-County Building and mayors have overseen menorah lightings.
Westmoreland County should not have to shelve decorations for future holidays. But they should prevent future challenges from organizations like the Ku Klux Klan by refining the 1997 resolution.
Guiddy’s interpretation should be the framework. There should be nothing that prevents the county from doing anything legal with its own property. At the same time, it should absolutely be able to restrict other organizations of any kind from erecting structures upon it.
The tree has been a beautiful addition to downtown Greensburg’s landscape, as has the lovely menorah alongside. It would be sad to see them not return for future holidays — but even worse if a season of peace and goodwill opened the door to exactly the kind of display the county commissioners tried to prevent decades earlier.