Court Rules Crosses on Highway Must Go; Memorials for Troopers Killed on Duty

The Christian Broadcast Network website reports today (August 19, 2010) that 14 crosses that stand along a Utah state highway -- a memorial to highway patrol troopers who lost their lives in the line of duty -- have been ruled a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said yesterday that the 12-foot-high white crosses were an endorsement of religion, implying a state preference for Christianity.

The American Atheist Association sued to have the religious symbols removed from public property.

Luke Goodrich, an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C., was shocked by the court's decision. "The ruling essentially says religious speech is bad and secular speech is okay," Goodrich said.