Written by Don Byrd
A group of churches in Evansville, Indiana will appeal a ruling invalidating their permits to display crosses along the city’s riverwalk. Judge Sarah Evans Barker found the large crosses would leave the impression of religious endorsement in violation of the separation of church and state and granted a plaintiff’s injunction prohibiting their display in an opinion handed down a month ago. The churches in question have filed a notice of appeal with the 7th Circuit.
From the Evansville Courier & Press:
The district court ruling, [attorney Christopher Wischer] said, enjoined the display because of the size of the crosses and the length of time the display would be up.
“By doing that,” Wischer said, “the court put limits on religious speech and the forcefulness of it that doesn’t exist for non-religious speech. It’s tantamount to saying it’s OK to pray in the public square, but keep your voice down.”
In the AP report, ACLU attorney Gavin Rose counters:
“The legal test is whether a reasonable person looking at a public display would believe that display has been endorsed by or has received the seal of approval from the city itself,” he said. “I don’t know how anyone could possibly look at 30 crosses traversing a four-block span in the heart of Evansville and conclude anything other than the city supports, the city endorses this display.”
