Late last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled 2-1 that a giant Christian cross in Prince George’s County, Maryland was unconstitutional.
The Christian groups representing the other side then asked the entire Fourth Circuit to reconsider the case. Today, the Court ruled 8-6against rehearing the case, which means the earlier ruling stands.
It’s another loss for the Christian Right and another victory for church/state separation.
By way of background, this case involved a World War I memorial known as “Peace Cross.” It’s a 40-foot Christian symbol on public property, maintained by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, that’s been up since 1925. The American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center began urging the local government to take it down in 2012.
When that didn’t happen, the AHA filed a lawsuit in 2014. The subsequent legal battle for the AHA involved a setback at the district level, pushback from conservatives, and an appeal that was opposed by 26 attorneys general from across the nation.
But when the oral arguments took place in December of 2016, there was reason to be optimistic. Not only did two of the three judges seem to agree with AHA attorney Monica Miller, the other side argued (not very convincingly) that a giant Christian cross wasn’t a religious symbol.
One of the judges, James A. Wynn Jr., even appeared to laugh at that argument, asking the government attorney point-blank how any reasonable person would ever look at the cross and think: That represents World War I and totally has nothing to do with Christianity!
Read the full story at the Friendly Atheist Blog
