A federal appeals court ruled Feb. 19, 2020, that this World War II-era cross can remain standing in Pensacola, Fla. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 34- foot Latin cross does not violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, based on a similar ruling last year by the Supreme Court on a Maryland cross. (CNS photo/Becket) Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Reversing its previous decision, a federal appeals court ruled Feb. 19 that a World War II-era cross can remain standing in a park in Pensacola, Florida, based on the Supreme Court’s decision last year about a similar cross on public property in Maryland. The 11th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals said Florida’s 34-foot Latin cross does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom, writing for the three-judge panel, said the cross "has evolved into a neutral" symbol. Becket, a nonprofit religious liberty law firm that represented Pensacola in this case, argued that the cross, built in 1941, had become "a significant symbol for the Pensacola community." In 2018, the same appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that said the cross in the city’s Bayview […]
