Berkley Center

In ACLU v. Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that Ohio’s state motto, “With God, All Things Are Possible,” did not violate the Establishment Clause. The court first examined the history of Establishment Clause jurisprudence in the United States and concluded that at the time the founders drafted the First Amendment, they would not have understood something like Ohio’s motto to establish religion in violation of the Constitution. Further, the federal government had adopted a motto similar to Ohio’s (“In God We Trust”) and that motto had been upheld by every appellate court to consider a challenge to it based on the Establishment Clause. The court then applied the test from the Supreme Court case Lemon v. Kurtzman, which requires that government action have a secular purpose, and neither advance religion nor create entanglement between church and state. Ohio contended that the motto had the secular purpose of instilling hope, boosting morale, and encouraging optimism in its citizens. The court found this to be a valid purpose, noting that state mottoes, much like the national anthem and pledge of allegiance, serve as symbols of common identity that reinforce citizens’ sense of membership to a state. With regard to advancing religion, the court concluded that if the national motto had not been found to advance religion, then it could not find that the Ohio motto did so. Finally, the court found that there was no evidence that merely adopting a motto would create entanglement between church and state. Thus, the court held that the Ohio motto did not violate the Establishment Clause.