On Wednesday, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found the setting up of large crosses along roads in memory of Utah state troopers killed in the line of duty to be unconstitutional, maintaining that it violated the Establishment Clause. The Utah Highway Patrol Association, a private organization, started setting the crosses up in 1998. On each cross is the fallen officer’s name and rank and the Utah Highway Patrol insignia -- which the judges opined would lead to concerns about the state government promoting Christianity. Here we are 12 years later and American Atheists, an organization of more than 2,000 Americans looking to promote the separation of church and state, is still pursuing its lawsuit -- apparently successfully.
Could this happen in Florida? Stay tuned.
The Utah Highway Patrol Association, incidentally, has the option of appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.
