Phoenix
21st August 2010, 05:29 PM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7954386/Utah-highway-patrol-crosses-violate-US-Constitution.html
Utah highway patrol crosses violate US Constitution
Fourteen crosses erected along roads in memory of fallen highway patrol officers in Utah have been declared in violation of the US Constitution.
By Nick Allen, Los Angeles
Published: 5:36PM BST 19 Aug 2010
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01699/utah_1699942c.jpg
Fellow officers began erecting the 12-foot high, white crosses along state highways in Utah in 1998
The crosses were found to be in breach of the First Amendment, which enshrines the separation of church and state, and the ruling could have implications for roadside memorials all over the United States.
Fellow officers began erecting the 12-foot high, white crosses along state highways in Utah in 1998. They were paid for with privately raised money but most stand on publicly owned land.
Each one carries a picture of a deceased trooper along with their rank and badge number, and the insignia of the state highway patrol which is a beehive.
In a 38-page ruling, which followed a five-year legal wrangle, the US Court of Appeals said passing drivers would conclude the state was endorsing Christianity, and that Christians could expect preferential treatment from the Utah Highway Patrol.
The case was brought by American Atheists, a Texas-based group, and in response the state of Utah had argued that crosses were a non-religious, and universally understood, symbol of death.
It said 11 of the 14 deceased troopers were Mormons, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not use the cross as a religious symbol.
However, in its ruling the Court of Appeals said: “Unlike Christmas, which has been widely embraced as a secular holiday, there is no evidence in this case that the cross has been widely embraced by non-Christians as a secular symbol of death.†The state of Utah may appeal to the US Supreme Court.
In April the US Supreme Court heard a similar constitutional case involving the Mojave Cross, a 7ft high white cross erected as a war memorial on land operated by the National Parks Service in California. The court was divided 5-4 but allowed the cross to stand.
Utah highway patrol crosses violate US Constitution
Fourteen crosses erected along roads in memory of fallen highway patrol officers in Utah have been declared in violation of the US Constitution.
By Nick Allen, Los Angeles
Published: 5:36PM BST 19 Aug 2010
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01699/utah_1699942c.jpg
Fellow officers began erecting the 12-foot high, white crosses along state highways in Utah in 1998
The crosses were found to be in breach of the First Amendment, which enshrines the separation of church and state, and the ruling could have implications for roadside memorials all over the United States.
Fellow officers began erecting the 12-foot high, white crosses along state highways in Utah in 1998. They were paid for with privately raised money but most stand on publicly owned land.
Each one carries a picture of a deceased trooper along with their rank and badge number, and the insignia of the state highway patrol which is a beehive.
In a 38-page ruling, which followed a five-year legal wrangle, the US Court of Appeals said passing drivers would conclude the state was endorsing Christianity, and that Christians could expect preferential treatment from the Utah Highway Patrol.
The case was brought by American Atheists, a Texas-based group, and in response the state of Utah had argued that crosses were a non-religious, and universally understood, symbol of death.
It said 11 of the 14 deceased troopers were Mormons, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not use the cross as a religious symbol.
However, in its ruling the Court of Appeals said: “Unlike Christmas, which has been widely embraced as a secular holiday, there is no evidence in this case that the cross has been widely embraced by non-Christians as a secular symbol of death.†The state of Utah may appeal to the US Supreme Court.
In April the US Supreme Court heard a similar constitutional case involving the Mojave Cross, a 7ft high white cross erected as a war memorial on land operated by the National Parks Service in California. The court was divided 5-4 but allowed the cross to stand.