Cert. Petition Filed In Utah Highway Patrol Memorials Case

A petition for certiorari (full text) in Davenport v. American Atheists, Inc. has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a press release by Utah's attorney general. In the case, the 10th Circuit held that the Utah violated the Establishment Clause when it permitted the Utah Highway Patrol Association to put up on public land some 13 crosses, each 12 feet high, as memorials to Patrol members who were killed in the line of duty. (See prior posting.) The 10th Circuit refused en banc review with 4 judges filing 2 dissenting opinions. (See prior posting.) The cert. petition asserts: "a three-way circuit split has developed over the appropriate test for evaluating whether a passive display with religious imagery violates the Establishment Clause." ABC4 News reports that former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz will represent Utah in the case pro bono.