By a 5-4 vote, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to re-hear the suit challenging roadside crosses commemorating fallen Utah State Troopers. In an earlier decision – one of the biggest church-state stories of the year – a panel of judges ruled the crosses unconstitutional, rejecting the disturbing argument that crosses are primarily secular symbols.
Yesterday's divided decision leaves that ruling in place. Dissenting judges argued in written opinions that the court's use of the "reasonable observer test" was misplaced.
