Pensacola Fights To Keep Historic Cross

PENSACOLA, FL — The city of Pensacola will not give up its historic cross without a fight. An emergency stay motion was filed on the city’s behalf Friday asking for the court’s permission for the cross to remain in place while an appeal is mounted. As it stands right now, the city must remove the structure by July 19 or run afoul of a federal court order.

Senior United States District Judge Roger Vinson ruled on June 19 that the memorial at Bayview Park stands in violation to the U.S. Constitution. More specifically, it runs amok of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, Vinson wrote. That clause prohibits government from establishing an official religion and prohibits favoring one religion over another, among other prohibitions meant to separate church and state.

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Vinson seemed apologetic in his order calling for the historic structure’s removal.

“Count me among those who hope the Supreme Court will one day revisit and reconsider its Establishment Clause jurisprudence, but my duty is to enforce the law as it now stands,” Vinson wrote in his decision, which also ordered the city to pay $1 in damages to plaintiff Amanda Kondrat-yev.

Kondrat-yev and three others – Andreiy Kondrat’yev, David Suhor and Andre Ryland – filed the initial lawsuit saying the cross “offended” them, according to Vinson’s order. The initial suit was brought in May 2016.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed the stay motion Friday on the city's behalf. Becket’s legal team says two of plaintiffs offended by Pensacola's cross reside in Canada. “One has used the cross himself for his own self-described ‘satanic purposes,’ ” a Friday statement from the law firm said. “The fourth plaintiff lives outside Pensacola over seven miles from the cross but says that seeing the cross would still be offensive.”

Becket’s legal team contends the historic nature of the cross protects it from removal. The first cross memorial was placed in the 28-acre park back in 1941. The Jaycees replaced the original cross with the current structure in 1969. The cross has been at the center of the city’s Veterans and Memorial Day observances hosted by the Jaycees and others for years, Becket and city leaders assert.

“The Bayview cross has played an important role in the history of Pensacola for over 75 years,” Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward said in announcing plans to appeal. “We have a rich and diverse history that is worth celebrating. The Constitution doesn’t require us to erase our history just because part of that history is religious.”

Vinson is expected to rule on the stay motion before July 19, according to Becket's legal team.

Becket is a nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based law firm “dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions and has a 100% win-rate before the United State Supreme Court,” the statement contends. The firm was also responsible for successfully defending a status of Jesus in Montana that memorializes World War II soldiers.

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that the government can recognize the religious aspects of our history and culture without violating the Constitution,” Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel for Becket, said in announcing the action. “We expect the city will win this case.”

How soon a full appeal will be filed remains unclear. A copy of the stay motioncan be viewed online.

Becket is presenting the city at no charge.

Photo courtesy of Becket