Roberts Adheres to Precedent on High Court Revelry

There appears to be no war on Christmas at the Supreme Court.

President George W. Bush and other federal officials have been criticized in recent weeks for not using the word "Christmas" in greeting cards or in describing parties or other traditional December events.

But at the Supreme Court, employees were invited by e-mail to the annual "Christmas Recess Party," set for today. At the party in the Great Hall of the Court, attendees will see a majestic fir that is decorated and unabashedly called a Christmas tree.

This is nothing new at the Court, where the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist almost defiantly insisted on describing the Court's annual holiday gathering as a Christmas party.

That despite the annual objection of Thurgood Marshall and the 1988 protest of a group of clerks, the article says. Details here from Tony Mauro of Legal Times via Law.com.