Judges weigh whether Utah crosses are secular

DENVER (AP) - A federal appeals court is weighing a lawsuit over Utah's use of privately funded crosses for roadside memorials honoring fallen highway patrol officers.

By: Associated Press | WNCT-On Your Side
Published: March 10, 2009

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DENVER (AP) - A federal appeals court is weighing a lawsuit over Utah's use of privately funded crosses for roadside memorials honoring fallen highway patrol officers.
A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Monday about what the group American Atheists called "heroic-size" 12-foot-high crosses placed along state highways.
A federal judge in Utah ruled in 2007 that the crosses communicate a secular message about the deaths of the troopers and are not an illegal public endorsement of religion.
But American Atheists' attorney Brian Barnard argued that the crosses suggest the trooper who died was a Christian and noted that Utah would not display the Star of David for a Jewish trooper.
On Monday, two of the three appellate judges sounded skeptical of Utah's declaration that the crosses are secular and nonreligious. The judges did not say when they would rule.

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