Oral arguments about the Maryland public memorial start this week.
By THOMAS R. ASCIK
About Thomas R. Ascik
February 25, 2019 6:30 AM
Must a large Christian cross commemorating soldiers who died in World War I, which has been in place on public land for 94 years, be taken down because three people are offended by it? On February 27, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the companion cases American Legion v. American Humanist Association and Maryland–National Capital Park and Planning Commission v. American Humanist Association. The constitutional issue concerns the allegation that the commemorative cross in Bladensburg, Md., which is located on a heavily traveled public highway and is known locally as the “Peace Cross,†violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
The specific question for the Supreme Court is whether the continued maintenance of the Peace Cross is an act of government that “endorses†religion and “coerces†religious belief, or if, instead, the cross is a “passive display†that may continue to exist as a commemoration of war dead and as part of American public tradition. The briefs filed for and against the Peace Cross cite Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), in addition to four recent cases, all decided by 5–4 votes: three recent Supreme Court cases about similar religious monuments and one case about public prayer.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/02/peace-cross-supreme-court-case-establishment-clause-2/a long indepth, but good read.