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Article
Researching the Legal History of Santa Claus
Louisville Bar Association Bar Briefs
(2019)
Abstract
For most lawyers, the figure of Santa Claus in the law is an unpleasant memory of an establishment clause essay question on a Constitutional Law exam where they had to decide what combination of Christmas trees, electric menorahs and inflatable Santas a city-owned mall could display without being reprimanded by the U.S. Supreme Court. Alas, Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) and Allegheny County v. Greater Pittsburgh ACLU (1989) have been a lump of coal in the fall semester grades stocking of many a law student.
But the white-bearded one made his first appearance in the law reports a hundred years before Justice Black erected “a wall of separation between church and State” in Everson v. Board of Education (1947). Indeed, Santa Claus has featured in cases ranging in subject from IP law to maritime law to the law of personal injury. And
a Westlaw or Lexis keyword search shows him joining the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy as symbols of naïve incredulity.
Keywords
- Legal history holidays Christmas
Disciplines
- Law and
- Legal History
Publication Date
December, 2019
Citation Information
Kurt X. Metzmeier. "Researching the Legal History of Santa Claus" Louisville Bar Association Bar Briefs (2019) p. 19 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kurt_metzmeier/32/