Endorsement Retires: From Religious Symbols to Anti‐Sorting Principles

Our constitutional law respecting religious establishments has nearly nothing to do with the federal government.Putting aside the best reading of constitutional text and constitutional law outside the courts, the central government has little to fear from the Establishment Clause.'In fact, the Supreme Court has almost never invalidated federal action on Establishment Clause grounds. 2 Maybe this is because national political institutions generate results that are less often troubling to the Court, or because it holds such action to a less demanding standard, or both.Regardless of the best explanation, the law's bite is at the state and local levels.