Allegheny

Allegheny , river, 325 mi (523 km) long, rising in N central Pa., and flowing NW into N.Y., then SW through Pa. to the Monongahela River, with which it forms the Ohio River at Pittsburgh; drains 11,580 sq mi (29,992 sq km). Before the railroad era, the river was an important commercial route and is still used to transport coal and other bulky freight. Kinzua Dam (completed in 1965), a federal flood-control project on the river, forms a large lake; there are also dams on the river's tributaries. The Allegheny's basin has coal, oil, and natural gas.

Allegheny Observatory The observatory of the University of Pittsburgh, at an altitude of 380 m in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, founded in 1860 but relocated on its present site, Riverview Park, in 1912. Its main instrument is the 0.76-m Thaw refractor, in operation since 1914 but fitted with a new objective lens in 1985. Other instruments include the 0.74-m Keeler astrometric reflector, opened in 1906 but given a new mirror in 1992. http://www.pitt.edu/~aobsvtry/

Allegheny County v. Aclu Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 492 U.S. 573 (1989), argued 22 Feb. 1989, decided 3 July 1989 by votes of 5 to 4 (to strike) and 6 to 3 (to uphold); Blackmun announced the judgment, O'Connor concurring in part, Brennan and Stevens concurring in part and dissenting in part, Kennedy concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part. The Supreme Court's policy of the early 1980s favoring religious accommodation was manifest in Lynch v. Donnelly (1984). There, against a challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, it upheld a publicly sponsored Christmas display by a 5‐to‐4 vote. Applying the three‐part “test” enunciated in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), the Court held that in the context of a larger display—which included a Santa, reindeers, and talking wishing wells—a crèche had a secular purpose, did not have a primary effect advancing or inhibiting religion, and did not excessively entangle church and state (see Lemon Test). In Allegheny, the Court refused to extend Lynch to approve a seasonal display that focused predominantly on religious symbols.

Justice Harry Blackmun announced the judgment of the Court in an opinion joined only by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He held that the context contemplated by Lynch was the display itself, not that of the general holiday season. Thus, a crèche—unadorned by other, more secular objects—could not constitutionally be placed in the public display of a country courthouse. A menorah, however, could occupy a similar setting, so long as it was in a context—surrounded by secular symbols—that emphasized the diversity of the holiday. Brennan, Marshall, and Stevens would have struck both displays; Rehnquist, White, Scalia, and Kennedy would have upheld them.

See also Religion.

Joseph F. Kobylka