Just in time for the holidays, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration has imposed an emergency rule allowing religious displays to be exhibited in state buildings.
The move was made public just days before the governor participated in the lighting of a menorah Tuesday at the state's main office building in Chicago in observance of the start of Hanukkah.
While the rule apparently paved the way for the placement of the menorah in the James R. Thompson Center, it also could result in the state having to allow almost any religious group -- no matter how radical or extreme -- to erect exhibits in state buildings.
"This could allow that," said Willy Medina, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, which manages state offices.
Medina said the change is an offshoot of a lawsuit filed against the state in which the plaintiff argued that he should be allowed to try to convert people while on state property.
In light of that, Medina said, "We determined that we were probably impinging on some First Amendment rights by trying to limit religious philosophy discussions or political discussions."
Before the emergency rule change was put in place, there was a prohibition barring the placement of exhibits in state buildings that promote religious or political philosophies.
The proposal comes a year after state officials ordered a group to remove a display from the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago because of its ties to the Church of Scientology.
The exhibit from the Citizens Commission of Human Rights criticized psychiatry as a wicked profession that "spawned the ideology which fired Hitler's mania ... and created the Holocaust," and charged psychiatrists with "hooking our children on drugs."
The group had state permission to erect the display, but it was asked to take it down after people complained the exhibit spread misinformation and violated the separation of church and state.
The proposed rule change is good for 150 days, after which the administration could choose not to pursue it further. It also may be discussed at next week's meeting of a legislative review panel.
State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, who is a member of the legislative panel, said he requested an explanation of the proposal from the administration, but as of Tuesday, had not received one.
Colleen Connell, executive director of the Illinois office of the American Civil Liberties Union, hadn't yet reviewed the rule change, but said it is common for governments to face questions about religious displays during the holiday season.