Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall led a group of 13 states in filing an amicus brief this week to the U.S. Supreme Court to support the City of Pensacola’s right to maintain a historic cross in a downtown public park.
“At issue is the right of the City of Pensacola to keep a public landmark in a city park,” said Marshall in statement released from his office on Friday. “The landmark in this case is a simple Latin cross erected in a corner of Bayview Park by the citizens of Pensacola as the nation was preparing to enter the Second World War.”
Marshall filed the Amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Amanda Konrat’yev v. City of Pensacola, Florida, which supported Pensacola’s appeal of a September 7, 2018 federal appeals court ruling ordering the city to remove the cross from Bayview Park.
“For 77 years, the cross has served as a backdrop for community events and memorial services honoring veterans,” Marshall added. “Given the history and significance of this beloved local landmark, it defies reason that Pensacolans should be forced to remove it because its presence is now perceived to conflict with the Constitution’s prohibition of the establishment of religion. This distorted view of the law, which has unfortunately been upheld by two federal courts, is a serious challenge to the public’s ability to retain historic religious symbols on thousands of monuments and memorials on public property across America. The impact of this question travels far beyond Pensacola. I was in our Nation’s Capital a few weeks ago and noticed thousands of crosses lining the hills of Arlington overlooking Washington, D.C. Should they now be ripped out of the ground because they can also be viewed as religious symbols? Even members of the federal appeals court panel that ruled against the City’s ability to display the cross have called into question the legal precedent used to challenge such displays.”
Other states joining Alabama in the filing were Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
The Alabama-led amicus brief can be read here.
@RealKyleMorris is a Yellowhammer News contributor and also contributes weekly to The Daily Caller
