It’s been more than a year since a federal district court allowed a plastic baby Jesus to mingle with Frosty in front of Jersey City’s City Hall, but now Union City may be acting naughty with a nativity scene of its own – and a city in Monmouth County is embroiled in a legal battle as well.
The Jersey City crusade began in 1994 when the American Civil Liberties Union decided to file suit against Jersey City for placing a nativity scene and menorah outside of City Hall, believing this violated the separation of church and state. After years of legal wrangling, the courts decided that such symbols were acceptable as long as several religions were represented, and as long as non-religious holiday figures were also displayed.
This year, Jersey City maintains compliance with the 1999 court ruling by displaying a cr