Again, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the time something has been around. Prayers were allowed in school, as was reading from the Bible. Now they aren't.
Wrong- age matters.
When SCOTUS has let displays remain (William and Mary Cross, TX Ten commandments and similar ones), or has let contrived land transfers stand (California crosses), the Court has
noted how long the display has been there. In short, the more historical the display, the more lenient the litmus test is applied.
Public high schools and elementary schools are different. Schools, the words of one justice, must be kept espescially seperate from religion. To my knowledge, the only historical displays ordered removed have been in schools.
All the challengers would have to do is request to get something else placed in the rooms. If it is turned down, they win. If it is allowed, I'm willing to bet someone will push it til they have no choice but to simply remove all the literature from the rooms and place it somewhere else, either available upon request, a library or the lobby, or simply give it to the base book lounge or library.
I doubt it will even go that far. Rather, the Courts are simply going to shut the butthurt atheist argument down by considering the practice to be historicaland then givie a lenient interpretation of the litmus test. The Courts do not like being used as a tool of the butthurt to pursue increasingly petty aspects of their social agenda.
As a side note, the Courts have also rejected claims by butt hurt Christians:
- California teacher documents that biased principal did not subject non christian display
s in free speech areas to the same level of scrutiny as his Christian display.
- Appellate Court: Yawn, was your Christian display allowed as a concept? A- yes. Good, then we are not going into petty details,
even if you appear to be right about a bias by the principal.
Basically, Courts like real meaty issues
not:
- Stop everything a biased principal, closely scrutinzed my Christian display, and ordered "just because" modifications.
- Stop everything, there is a cross in the middle of National Park that is now technically on private land
via a contrived transfer of one acre. SCOTUS Do you mean
the 1920s cross? Get a life... .