Supreme Court: 40-foot tall, cross-shaped World War I memorial can continue to stand on public land in Maryland
WASHINGTON (AP) — A World War I memorial in the shape of a 40-foot-tall cross can continue to stand on public land in Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The justices, in ruling 7-2 in favor of the cross' backers, concluded that the nearly 100-year-old memorial's presence on a grassy highway median doesn't violate the First Amendment's establishment clause, which prohibits the government from favoring one religion over others.
The case had been closely watched because it involves the place of religious symbols in public life. Defenders of the cross in Bladensburg had argued that a ruling against them could doom of hundreds of war memorials that use crosses to commemorate soldiers who died. "The cross is undoubtedly a Christian symbol, but that fact should not blind us to everything else that the Bladensburg Cross has come to represent," Justice Samuel Alito wrote.
"For some, that monument is a symbolic resting place for ancestors who never returned home. For others, it is a place for the community to gather and honor all veterans and their sacrifices to our Nation. For others still, it is a historical landmark. For many of these people, destroying or defacing the Cross that has stood undisturbed for nearly a century would not be neutral and would not further the ideals of respect and tolerance embodied in the First Amendment. For all these reasons, the Cross does not offend the Constitution," he wrote. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
The cross' challengers included three area residents and the District of Columbia-based American Humanist Association, which includes atheists and agnostics. They argued that the cross, in a suburb near the nation's capital, should be moved to private property or modified into a nonreligious monument such as a slab or obelisk.
Defenders included the American Legion, which raised money to build the monument honoring area residents who died in World War I. Other backers included the Trump administration and Maryland officials who took over maintenance of the cross nearly 60 years ago to preserve it and address traffic safety concerns.
Maryland officials had argued that the cross, sometimes called the "Peace Cross," doesn't violate the Constitution because it has a secular purpose and meaning. In the past, similar monuments have met with a mixed fate at the high court.
On the same day in 2005, for example, the court upheld a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol while striking down Ten Commandments displays in Kentucky courthouses.
After those rulings and others the Supreme Court has been criticized for being less than clear in explaining how to analyze so-called passive displays such as Maryland's cross, that are challenged as violating the Constitution's establishment clause.
Article is LOCKED by author/seeder
Good outcome. I don't look at it as a religious symbol, I see it as a memorial to the men that died in WWI. Signed, a Gold Star Mom
The scary thing is the Supreme Court had to reverse the 4th Circuit.
This should have been laughed out of Court when it was filed.
Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative, wrote for the majority that although the cross is a religious symbol, “its use in the Bladensburg memorial has special significance” because it functions as a war memorial.
“For nearly a century, the Bladensburg cross has expressed the community’s grief at the loss of the young men who perished, its thanks for their sacrifices, and its dedication to the ideals for which they fought,” he added.
To tear the cross down now could be seen as an act of hostility against religion, Alito said.
@SenTedCruz
"I was proud to lead the amicus brief with
on behalf of 109 Members of Congress to #SCOTUS ."
It is a beautiful memorial to our veterans and I like how it is in the public view not hidden in some park. A daily reminder of the sacrifices made.
This one just never seemed that hard to me. Thankfully, common sense has won.
But there is a small group of people out there who who have decided that they are going to get bent about every little remotely religious display and run to court over it. I don't think it really affects their lives, but like Don Quixote, it gives them a windmill to tilt at.
I'm not a Christian, and I am quite happy that (most of) the SCOTUS has applied common sense in a decision that flies in the face of the pussies who are unable to withstand REALITY. I hope it's a sign of more common sense decisions to come. Isn't it about time that Ginsburg retired? Sottomayor should stay there because AOC will need SOMEONE to defend her idiocy.
Wasn't the cross on private land when built and when the highway was widened the land ended up becoming part of the highway medium?
Nope. It was on town land from the start .. apparently the care of it was given over to the American Legion post.
Thanks. I wasn't sure about that. Do you know if some agreement was made when highway was widened?
I just saw that. Yet another article stated otherwise. So ... who knows. The American Legion website didn't say either way.
Got it, thanks. Although the point of the court challenge was is that now it's public land.
To me, a historic cross as a memorial to veterans is somewhat similar to all the national cemeteries near my house; I really don't expect anyone to go around replacing all the crosses that mark the graves with little gravestones. I don't for a minute believe that they're secular, but it's not a battle I would fight.