Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought

Shreveport, Louisiana's Sunday Blue Law required all stores to beclosed after 9:00 a.m. Sunday. Somewhat atypically for the time(1874), the ordinance exempted storekeepers who kept their stores closed on the Saturday Sabbath. The provision substantially equalized the position of the observant Jewish shopkeeper and his Christian competitor, who otherwise would have enjoyed a significant competitive advantage by keeping his shop open on Saturday, when his Jewish competitor's business was closed. A Jewish storekeeper, Levy, opened his store both Saturday and Sunday. Fined $10.00 for violating the blue laws, Levy challenged the law on the ground that it granted a special privilege to Sabbath observing Jews and was therefore unconstitutional. The Louisiana Supreme Court agreed, striking the statute as a breach of the requirement for the equal treatment of all citizens. 35 years later, the same court, relying on its decision in Levy, and its insistence on religious equality before the law, held that public schools could not compel Jewish students to participate in Christian religious exercises because such exercises denied them equal treatment with their Christian schoolmates.