News In Brief

High court to weigh 2nd case on community Nativity scene

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether a community may be forced to provide public land for a privately or church-sponsored Christmas Nativity scene. It will review a ruling that Scarsdale, N.Y., must permit a Nativity scene in a park in the middle of the village.

The case offers the court the opportunity to enlarge on its ruling last March in a case that allowed local governments to sponsor displays depicting the birth of Jesus. The justices then ruled, by a 5-to-4 vote, that Pawtucket, R.I., did not violate the constitutionally required separation of church and state when it included a creche among its annual Christmas decorations.