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DENVER (AP) -- A Denver federal appeals court will hear arguments Monday on the religiousness of crosses used to honor deceased Utah troopers along state highways.
A federal judge in Salt Lake City in 2007 ruled the crosses are not an illegal public endorsement of religion and are used to communicate a secular message -- that a patrolman died or was mortally wounded at a particular location.
Texas-based American Atheists have appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying crosses have no place on public land and instead suggest a tombstone or American flag. The judge said the U.S. military uses crosses to represent death and also noted that Utah's majority religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, does not use a cross as an icon.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
