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A federal appeals court in Atlanta will hear arguments Wednesday on whether this cross should be removed from Bayview Park in Pensacola. (AL.com/Image courtesy of Becket) A 34-foot Christian cross at a public park in Pensacola, Fla., will be the subject of a federal appeals court hearing Wednesday (May 16), the latest round in a legal battle over the constitutionality of a religious landmark that that has stood for more than seven decades.
Louisiana is one of more than a dozen states to stand behind Pensacola in its effort to keep the cross standing in Bayview Park.
The American Humanist Association and the Freedom from Religion Foundation sued Pensacola in 2016 on behalf of four residents who sought to have the cross removed. In June 2017, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson of the Northern District of Florida , who was nominated for the bench by President Ronald Reagan, ruled in favor of the groups and ordered the cross to come down.
In September, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, representing the city of Pensacola, appealed to the 11 th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that the cross that has been in the park in one form or another since 1941 and was not only a religious symbol but a part of the city’s culture and history.
Vinson, who had made it clear he did not agree with the law he had to apply in his ruling on the case, suspended the order to remove the cross pending the appeal.
Monica Miller, the American Humanist Association’s senior legal counsel, will present oral arguments for the plaintiffs Wednesday before the three-judge 11th Circuit appellate panel in Atlanta. The plaintiffs’ argument is that the cross violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the organization.
Attorney Luke William Goodrich of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty will present Pensacola’s argument for keeping the cross. The Beckett Fund describes itself as "a non-profit, public interest law firm defending the freedom of religion of people of all faiths."
The Pensacola Jaycees erected the cross in 1969. It replaced a wooden […]