On Monday, Nov. 14, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declined review of an appeal over a case arguing that the phrase "In God We Trust" on a North Carolina government building was unconstitutional.

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday [11/14/2005] declined to review a ruling that the inscription "In God We Trust" on the front of a government building in North Carolina does not violate church-state separation.

The justices rejected an appeal of the decision that dismissed a lawsuit by two attorneys who had challenged as unconstitutional the phrase over the main entrance to the county's government center in Lexington, North Carolina.

A U.S. appeals court ruled that the lawsuit failed to show that the display had no legitimate secular purpose, that it has the effect of endorsing religion or that it has resulted in an excessive entanglement of government and religion.

The high court rejected the appeal without any comment or recorded dissent.
Nov. 14, 2005 Reuters