Washington D.C., Nov 5, 2018 / 12:00 pm
The Supreme Court will once again consider the legality of religious monuments on public land during the current session.
The Court announced November 2 that it had granted certiorari to Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission v. American Humanist Association.
The case concerns the so-called "Peace Cross" in Prince George's County, Maryland, erected in honor of soldiers who lost their lives in World War I. In 2014, the American Humanist Association, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that promotes "secular humanist" beliefs, filed suit against the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission because of the shape of the monument.
The monument was erected in 1925, and was paid for by mothers of soldiers killed in the war. It lists the names of 49 members of the local community who died in service, as well as the seal of the American Legion and the words "valor," "endurance," "courage," and "devotion" on the four branches.