Supreme Court Mulls Religion Test on 40-Foot Cross for WWI Dead

  • Court may allow Maryland cross without issuing sweeping ruling
  • 40-foot cross memorializes local men who died in World War I
The memorial cross stands in Bladensburg, Maryland.Photographer: Mark Gail/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

U.S. Supreme Court justices struggled to clarify the constitutional limits on government-sponsored displays of religious symbols as they heard a case over a 40-foot cross that serves as a World War I memorial in a Maryland intersection.

The session Wednesday suggested the court was heading toward a narrow decision. That could mean letting the almost century-old memorial stand without giving government officials broad leeway to erect new religious displays. The court will rule by June.