Interpreting the Bladensburg Cross Case
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
First Things - Web Exclusives
Publication Date
6-24-2019
Abstract
(Excerpt)
Last week, the Supreme Court decided the much-awaited Bladensburg Cross case, American Legion v. American Humanist Association. The case presented a constitutional challenge to a war memorial on public property in Bladensburg, Maryland—a 32-foot-high Latin cross erected 90 years ago to commemorate county residents who had died in World War I. In 2017, a federal appeals court ruled that the cross violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause under the so-called “endorsement test.” A reasonable observer, the appeals court held, would view the cross as an impermissible state endorsement of Christianity.
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Originally published at https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/06/interpreting-the-bladensburg-cross-case.