About this Case
A retired U.S. Park Service employee sued, alleging a cross erected in the Mojave Desert in honor of World War I veterans, violated the Establishment Clause. The lower courts ruled in favor of the employee. However, the Supreme Court held that those courts had not conducted the proper analysis, and reversed the decision of the court of appeals. The case was sent back to the district court for further proceedings.
Summary of NLF's Brief
In our brief to the Supreme Court we argued that the lower courts had conducted the incorrect analysis. No Establishment Clause violation exists because of the longstanding history and tradition of the government using crosses to memorialize the dead and specifically fallen soldiers. We also argued that the court below erred in applying the reasonable observer standard because the court attributed to the observer only information about the cross which cast in a negative light and not information which cast it in a positive light.