Posted on 06/20/2019 9:29:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
A large cross in Bladensburg, Maryland has been a source of controversy for years as we awaited the Supreme Court's decision on whether the symbol can continue to stand. A local post of The American Legion erected the Bladensburg Peace Cross in 1925. To most, the statue was dedicated to the memory of 49 local heroes who gave their lives serving in the U.S. Armed Forces in WWI. To the Humanist Association, it was an unconstitutional eyesore. They sued in 2014 arguing the cross violated the Establishment Clause and demanded its removal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with the plaintiffs and declared the cross unconstitutional.
First Liberty Institute, representing the American Legion, asked the Supreme Court to overturn that decision. And on Thursday, they did. It was a 7-2 decision, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting. Justice Samuel Alito offered the majority opinion.
US Supreme Court allows WWI "Peace Cross" to stay on public land in Maryland - but it's a complicated ruling https://t.co/JFd95WRDia pic.twitter.com/ljg6XEDG1g— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) June 20, 2019
"Although the cross has long been a preeminent Christian symbol, its use in the Bladensburg memorial has a special significance," Alito writes.
You can read the full opinion here.
“This is a landmark victory for religious freedom," said Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO, and Chief Counsel to First Liberty. "The days of illegitimately weaponizing the Establishment Clause and attacking religious symbols in public are over. Our Founders would have been appalled at this attempt to make the government hostile to our religious heritage, history, and symbols. The attempted perversion of our Constitution is now over, and every American now has more freedom than they have had in decades, with a government no longer hostile to people or expressions of faith.”
“The Man Who Would Be King”
Great movie, and great short story by Rudyard Kipling.
Good. Atheists are the children of Marx, and the enemies of America. Any defeat of them is most welcome.
So, when will the Confederate flags be restored to their cemeteries?
Yah, probably not, but I see no real significant difference.
me either- at this point- Well see how important cases unfold in a few months-
Easy to spot the difference- one group made war against the Union the other FOR the Union.
Love it - entirely consistent with his past stances that the court system is not a place for people to air their purely personal grievances.
The presence or removal of a Confederate Flag is neither constitutional nor unconstitutional. It is quite different - who sued to have them removed? Simply posting them - or removing them - as a matter of policy has no comparison to suing to have them removed as "unconstitutional" and the case making its way through the Court system.
I’m really surprised it was 7-2. This decision is a soft ball. Ginsberg wasn’t a surprise but Sotomayor surprised me. We just need to replace someone like Ginsberg and we can totally halt and reverse the left’s war on Christianity.
I may be a “Damn Yankee”but still consider it unreasonable and an unethical betrayal of the men who died for their cause to remove the flag they fought for in the name of PC decades after their deaths.
Probably not expressing myself well, I care not for mere symbols but do respect the CW veterans of both sides.
Unlike some I am aware that the CW was NOT really about slavery as modern social/historical filtering would have us believe.
A group wanted this monument removed for reasons no more valid than the Confederate monuments, but this monument is being spared.
Not just Kagan, but Beyer as well.
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