LAS CRUCES, N.M.—A federal appeals court on Friday rejected lawsuits that claimed city and school district officials violated the Constitution by using Christian crosses in city logos and buildings.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver affirmed a lower court ruling that had dismissed a lawsuit by Las Cruces residents Paul Weinbaum and Martin Boyd against the city government.
Justices also rejected another lawsuit by Weinbaum against Las Cruces Public Schools.
Las Cruces is Spanish for “The Crosses.” The city and school district routinely use logos that include three crosses.
In a 43-page opinion, the appellate court acknowledged that use of such symbols raises legitimate constitutional concerns but justices found the use of crosses “is not a religious statement,” and is based on the city’s unique name and history.
A U.S. district judge in Las Cruces dismissed both lawsuits in 2006, ruling that “a city may make use of images that have a religious connotation as long as the primary or principal effect is not to endorse religion.”
El Paso attorney Brett Duke, representing the plaintiffs in the city lawsuit, said he was reviewing the ruling and declined immediate comment.
In an interview earlier this year with the Las Cruces Sun-News, Weinbaum, who is Jewish, and Boyd, an atheist, said the lawsuit was not an attack on Christianity but a defense of the Constitution.
“It’s not that I hate Christianity,” Boyd said in January. “Kind of like Mr. Weinbaum said I don’t really think we should be having a situation where the government, whether they really are or not, where they seem to be promoting one religion over another.”
Weinbaum had indicated he may take the case to the Supreme Court if the appeals court did not side with him.
