Grinch Foiled Again as Sixth Circuit Affirms Lower Court Decision

Dec 20, 2000

Just in the "Nick" of time, a federal appeals court ruled today that Christmas can continue to be a federal holiday in the United States. An Ohio attorney named Richard Ganulin had filed suit in 1998, asking that Christmas be removed from the list of federal holidays. Last December, federal district Judge Susan Dlott granted a motion by The Becket Fund to dismiss Ganulin's suit, and today, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court decision, saying that "after careful consideration of the issues presented on appeal and having had the benefit of oral argument, we affirm the dismissal for the reasons set forth in the district court's opinion."

In a decision issued on December 6, 1999, the district court held that "the government can establish legal public holidays for secular reasons and its citizens can choose to celebrate the holidays in a religious manner without contradiction."

The Becket Fund intervened in Ganulin v. United States on behalf of three federal employees who wanted Christmas to remain a federal holiday, and participated in oral arguments in the circuit court hearing earlier this month.

Becket Fund attorney Roman Storzer argued the case before the Sixth Circuit panel on December 7, asserting that Ganulin lacked standing in the case and that the federal Christmas holiday "falls well within the bounds of permissible accommodation of religious belief and exercise." The court acted with unusual dispatch, ruling in less than two weeks.

Storzer said that today's decision was welcome, and that it affirms that "Christmas is an important part of American culture and it is not only permissible for the government to recognize that fact, it's ‘in the best of our traditions,' as the late Justice Douglas once said. Christmas, like Hanukkah and Ramadan and many other religious observances, occupies an important place in the lives of millions of citizens. The Supreme Court has long recognized that religion is part of the fabric of our society and culture, and government need not pretend otherwise. The Sixth Circuit affirmed that wise and reasonable position in today's decision," he said.

Relevant Cases

• Ganulin v. United States