American Legion v. American Humanist Association
| American Legion v. American Humanist Association | |
|---|---|
| Argued February 27, 2019 Decided June 20, 2019 | |
| Full case name | The American Legion, et al. v. American Humanist Association, et al. |
| Docket no. | 17-1717 |
| Citations | 588 U.S. 29 (more) 139 S. Ct. 2067; 204 L. Ed. 2d 452 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Am. Humanist Ass'n v. Maryland-Nat. Capital Park, 147 F. Supp. 3d 373 (D. Md. 2015); reversed, American Humanist v. MD-Nat'l Capital Park, 874 F.3d 195 (4th Cir. 2017); rehearing en banc denied, 891 F.3d 117 (4th Cir. 2018); cert. granted, 139 S. Ct. 451 (2018). |
| Questions presented | |
| Whether a 93-year-old memorial to the fallen of World War I is unconstitutional merely because it is shaped like a cross, whether the constitutionality of a passive display incorporating religious symbolism should be assessed under prior case law tests, and whether the expenditure of funds for routine upkeep and maintenance of a cross-shaped war memorial, without more, amounts to an excessive entanglement with religion in violation of the First Amendment | |
| Holding | |
| Though a symbol of Christianity, the cross on public land does not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment due to its historical value as a war memorial that has stood for nearly 100 years. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Alito (Parts I, II–B, II–C, III, and IV), joined by Roberts, Breyer, Kagan, and Kavanaugh |
| Plurality | Alito (Parts II–A and II–D), joined by Roberts, Breyer, and Kavanaugh |
| Concurrence | Breyer, joined by Kagan |
| Concurrence | Kavanaugh |
| Concurrence | Kagan (in part) |
| Concurrence | Thomas (in judgment) |
| Concurrence | Gorsuch (in judgment), joined by Thomas |
| Dissent | Ginsburg, joined by Sotomayor |
American Legion v. American Humanist Association, 588 U.S. 29 (2019), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the separation of church and state related to maintaining the Peace Cross, a World War I memorial shaped after a Latin cross, on government-owned land, though initially built in 1925 with private funds on private lands. The case was a consolidation of two petitions to the court, that of The American Legion who built the cross (Docket 17–1717), and of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission who own the land and maintain the memorial (Docket 18-18). Both petitions challenged the Fourth Circuit's ruling that, regardless of the secular purpose the cross was built for in honoring the deceased soldiers, the cross emboldened a religious symbol, and had ordered it altered or razed. The Supreme Court reversed the Fourth Circuit's ruling in a 7–2 decision, determining that since the Cross had stood for decades without controversy, it did not violate the Establishment Clause and could remain standing.