section_path: Associated customs/United States
section_name: United States
paragraph_text: United States
  
  In the United States, Good Friday is not a federal government holiday. The postal service operates, and banks regulated by the federal government do not close for Good Friday.
  
  Some states, counties, municipalities, and territories observe the holiday. Good Friday is a state holiday in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky (half-day), Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, and in the territories of Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico.
  
  State and local government offices and courts are closed, as well as some banks and post offices in these states, and in those counties and municipalities where Good Friday is observed as a holiday.
  
  The stock markets have chosen to be closed on Good Friday, but the foreign exchange and bond trading markets open for a partial business day. Some public schools and universities are closed on Good Friday if it falls within spring break.
  
  In some governmental contexts Good Friday has been referred to by a generic name such as "spring holiday". In 1999, in the case of Bridenbaugh v. O'Bannon, an Indiana state employee sued the governor for giving state employees Good Friday as a day off. The US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the plaintiff, stating that the government could give state employees a paid day off when that day is a religious holiday, including Good Friday, but only so long as the state can provide a valid secular purpose that coincides with the obvious religious purpose of the holiday.
  
  In the United States, Good Friday is not a federal government holiday. The postal service operates, and banks regulated by the federal government do not close for Good Friday.
  
  Some states, counties, municipalities, and territories observe the holiday. Good Friday is a state holiday in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky (half-day), Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, and in the territories of Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico.
  
  State and local government offices and courts are closed, as well as some banks and post offices in these states, and in those counties and municipalities where Good Friday is observed as a holiday.
  
  The stock markets have chosen to be closed on Good Friday, but the foreign exchange and bond trading markets open for a partial business day. Some public schools and universities are closed on Good Friday if it falls within spring break.
  
  In some governmental contexts Good Friday has been referred to by a generic name such as "spring holiday". In 1999, in the case of Bridenbaugh v. O'Bannon, an Indiana state employee sued the governor for giving state employees Good Friday as a day off. The US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the plaintiff, stating that the government could give state employees a paid day off when that day is a religious holiday, including Good Friday, but only so long as the state can provide a valid secular purpose that coincides with the obvious religious purpose of the holiday.