A public utility company is permitted to enter into an agreement with a private Jewish group to erect displays of religious significance on the utility poles said the courts on January 6, 2015.
In 2008, there was discussion of putting up an eruv in the Village of Westhampton Beach. An eruv
is a religious boundary that permits observant Jews within the enclosed space
to carry and push items on the Sabbath, which, under ordinary circumstances, is
forbidden. This boundary is usually established by attaching strips of woods to
telephone poles around the community, thereby requiring private contracts with
telephone companies.
A religious group called the Jewish People for the Betterment of
Westhampton Beach (or JPOE) sued the Village
of Westhampton Beach to oppose the erection of the eruv, arguing that it
was a wrongful exception to Jewish practices on the Sabbath and that the government,
which was contracting with private parties to establish the eruv, was overtly endorsing
one sect of religion over another.
Courts
said on January 6, 2015 that it is lawful for public utility companies to
erect eruvs as part of a contract with a private party. LIPA’s contract to
erect an eruv using its telephone poles was neutral and did not establish a
noticeable and overt display of religion throughout the town. In fact, no
reasonable observer would conclude from the strips of wood on the utility poles
that the government was endorsing one religion over another. Furthermore, since
private parties had agreed to finance, install and maintain the strips on the
utility poles, there was no excessive government entanglement with religion.
This decision is a victory for religious freedom as a fundamental
First Amendment right but is also a victory for real estate in the area. As the
strips of woods on the telephone poles are not very noticeable, they will not
in any way diminish the appearance of the community. In fact, real estate sales
and rentals may skyrocket in the Village
of Westhampton Beach now since observant Jews will seek out the community
for its eruv.
