A judge for the US District Court of the Northern District of Florida [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Monday that a large cross erected in a Pensacola park is in violation of the First Amendment [text], specifically the Establishment Clause. The Freedom From Religion Foundation and the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Legal Center [advocacy websites] filed the suit on behalf of four individuals who felt the presence of the 75-year-old cross on city-owned property was offensive and alienating park visitors who do not subscribe to Christianity. Judge Vinson was reluctant to rule against the tenancy of the cross but stated “the law is the law.” He cited precedent cases that support the interpretation of the Establishment Clause that precludes government endorsement for non-secular purposes and said, “The Bayview Cross clearly has a primarily&#8212if not exclusively&#8212religious purpose.” He concluded, “Count me among those who hope the Supreme Court will one day revisit and reconsider its Establishment Clause jurisprudence, but my duty is to enforce the law as it now stands.” The ruling imposed that the cross be removed within 30 days. The city could appeal the case to the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website].

The interpretation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause has been contested several times in recent years. In April the Supreme Court heard arguments [JURIST report] for Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer [SCOTUSBlog materials] on whether excluding churches from neutral aid programs violates Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses if the state does not provide a valid Establishment Clause concern. In March the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website] upheld [JURIST report] a lower court ruling allowing a Texas school board to open their meetings with a student-led public prayer. A Michigan county’s practice of offering Christian-only prayers at public board meetings was found unconstitutional [JURIST report] by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] in February. In September the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that Rowan County Commissioners in North Carolina may open public meetings with prayer. In April 2016 the governor of Tennessee vetoed [JURIST, report] a bill declaring the Bible as the official state book. Also in April 2016 a California federal judge required Los Angeles County to remove [JURIST report] a Latin cross from the county seal. In November 2015 a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas [official website] ruled that a nativity scene on Baxter County Courthouse grounds violated the First Amendment [JURIST report]. In September 2015 the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] ruled that a six-foot-tall statue of Jesus may remain [JURIST report] on US Forest Service land.