The Old Concrete Cross: Humanists and Traditionalists Square Off Before U.S. Supreme Court to Argue Over Fate of World War I Memorial

The American Legion v. The American Humanist Association, No. 17-1717, combined with Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission v. The American Humanist Association, No. 18-18. Oral argument February 27, 2019.

Nearly a century ago the families of soldiers who died in service during World War I collectively funded the creation and display of a forty foot tall concrete Latin Cross bearing the soldiers’ names, engraved words commemorative of honorable service such as “valor.” The state of Maryland, through its Parks and Planning Commission, assumed titular ownership of the memorial some decades ago in order to support the upkeep of the Peace Cross, as the Bladensburg memorial is known, as it is fragile and may present hazards should parts of the cross crumble. The Bladensburg Cross is currently installed along a state highway. It is unavoidably visible to drivers and passers-by.

The American Humanist Association and like minded entities complain that the acts of the state’s ownership, placement, and maintenance of the Bladensburg Cross violate the Establishment Clause. As they are offended by the sight of what is in their perception a religious sculpture installment, the humanists assert that they have suffered injury sufficient to obtain judicial redress.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with the humanists.

Traditionalists — whether religious groups, advocacy groups, or military-related entities, are deeply concerned by the Fourth Circuit’s decision and fear that if the decision is permitted to stand then the fate of all war memorials bearing religious symbols throughout the nation will be in jeopardy.

In addition to seeking reversal of the federal appellate decision, the traditionalists ask the Supreme Court to dispense with the Establishment Clauses analysis found in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971), as the three part test, proceeding as it does, in their view, from a predominantly secularizing standpoint, has not withstood the test of time. The petitioners ask the Court to return to the meaning of the Establishment Clause as it was envisioned at the founding of the nation, with a view toward custom and practice.

Petitioners ask with equal force that the Court reject the notion of “offended observer” standing, asserting that recognizing emotional reactions to passive public displays fails to articulate the concrete injury required for federal court jurisdiction.

The ordinary observer –offended or not — cannot fail to notice the cultural rifts underlying this dispute. Humanists, by their own accounts, would enjoy greater peace of mind were they not reminded of religions in their daily encounters with the government, symbolic or real. The presence of signs and symbols of Christianity — of which the Latin Cross is the defining icon — provokes a sense of exclusion from life in the public square. In light of the emergence of the nation as one embracing many faiths and many cultures, the humanists see no reason for continuing reminders of a religion that ought never be presented as being in control.

Traditionalists, on the other hand, fear the destruction of individual and collective memory and the loss of the nation’s history should monuments be razed in the name of the Establishment Clause. To them, government involvement in the preclusion of religion is as offensive as any government involvement in its establishment.

If the cultural clash did not provide enough with which to grapple, the subtext of the legitimacy of originalism is in play as well, as that is what looking to the intent of the Framers is all about. Textual analysis is of course a time honored and enduring legal tool, with much to recommend it, but the larger question is whether textual analyses and historical references will suffice to carry the day in disputes arising two centuries after the nation’s founding, subsequent to massive cultural, technical, and political change. Not the least of these changes by any means are changes to the Constitution itself, which, following reconstruction and later amendments, leave the nation’s principal governing document no longer as it originally was.

In addition to the principal parties, there are scholars, religious entities, special interest advocates, policy groups, veterans, states and local governments, and others who have weighed in as amici. With the abundance of effort that has been expended to present this matter to the Court, one may hope that the Court will recognize that this may not be a case in which incrementalism will be a prudent response.

Links to principal parties’ memoranda as well as a guide to amicus submissions are set forth below.

Merits Briefs

20181217160935389_17-1717 American Legion Brief

20181217164050705_18-18 Maryland National Park and Planning Brief

20190123152713265_37350 pdf AHA Final Brief 1-23-19

20190213163922725_17-1717 American Legion Reply Brief

20190213120308294_18-18 Maryland National Capital Park Reply Brief

Joint Appendix

20181217164536737_Peace JA – Volume I

20181217164544300_Peace JA – Volume II

20181217164556003_Peace JA – Volume III

20181217164614847_Peace-JA-Volume-IV