Cite as: 515 U. S. 753 (1995)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
Justice Ginsburg, dissenting.
We confront here, as Justices O'Connor and Souter point out, a large Latin cross that stood alone and unattended in close proximity to Ohio's Statehouse. See ante, at 776 (O'Connor, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); ante, at 792-793 (Souter, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). Near the stationary cross were the government's flags and the government's statues. No human speaker was present to disassociate the religious symbol from the State. No other private display was in sight. No plainly visible sign informed the public that the cross belonged to the Klan and that Ohio's government did not endorse the display's message.
If the aim of the Establishment Clause is genuinely to un-couple government from church, see Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing, 330 U. S. 1, 16 (1947), a State may not permit, and a court may not order, a display of this character. Cf. Sullivan, Religion and Liberal Democracy, 59 U. Chi. L. Rev. 195, 197-214 (1992) (negative bar against establishment of religion implies affirmative establishment of secular public order). Justice Souter, in the final paragraphs of his opinion, suggests two arrangements that might have distanced the State from "the principal symbol of Christianity around the world," see ante, at 792: a sufficiently large and clear disclaimer, ante, at 793-794; 1 or an area reserved for un-1 Cf. American Civil Liberties Union v. Wilkinson, 895 F. 2d 1098, 1101, n. 2, 1106 (CA6 1990) (approving disclaimer ordered by District Court, which had to be " 'prominently displayed immediately in front of' " the religious symbol and " 'readable from an automobile passing on the street directly in front of the structure' "; the approved sign read: " 'This display was not constructed with public funds and does not constitute an endorsement by the Commonwealth [of Kentucky] of any religion or religious doctrine.' ") (quoting District Court); McCreary v. Stone, 739 F. 2d 716, 728 (CA2 1984) (disclaimers must meet requirements of size, visibility, and message; disclaimer at issue was too small), aff'd, 471 U. S. 83 (1985) (per curiam); Parish, Private Religious Displays in Public Fora, 61 U. Chi. L. Rev. 253, 285-286 (1994) (disclaimer must not only identify the sponsor, it
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