"Lew Bryson" > wrote in message
.. .

> Yeah, yeah, but...seems like Sunday no-sale laws, which are definitely
> based on Christian-derived "day of rest" ideas, would violate the 1st
> Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
> religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Or doe the 1st
> Amendment not cover the states?

It does, thanks to the 16th amendment, which specifies that citizens are
citizens both of their states and of the United States, and therefore
individual states may not make laws that infringes upon the rights of US
citizens accorded in the Constitution.

> Can a state then establish a state religion? It would appear that they
> are, if they cause businesses to close on a day for reasons obviously
> having to do with religion, but that hardly seems to jive with the 1st
> Amendment.

That's the billion-dollar question. I'm not familiar enough with the history
of blue laws to know when they've been adjudicated and what the judgements
have tended to be. But the fact is that blue laws still exist and there is
no existing precedent that has said they can't exist. Many states still bar
Sunday car sales, for instance, and until literally a few years ago, North
Dakota didn't allow Sunday retail sales of any sort. There are counties in
New Jersey that do the same.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone tried to fight
against that, but it doesn't appear that there's any momentum for that
lately. Hell, in a lot of cases, the businesses themselves are the strongest
supporters of the blue laws.

> And if the states are NOT allowed to establish religion... What wins, 1st
> Amendment, or 21st?

Good question. I don't know what the governing principle is when two clauses
of the constitution appear to contradict each other. I suppose the practical
answer is that whatever the Supreme Court says wins, wins.

-Steve