Church-state Separation Victory in Starke, FL

In another legal victory for religious freedom, the American Atheists have won a court case involving a city display of a religious icon. Today's Gainesville Sun reports that an injunction has been placed against a cross placed above a city's water tower in Starke, FL:

[Judge Moore] prohibited the city from "displaying, maintaining, illuminating or otherwise allowing" the cross to appear on the tower.

Prof. Friedman, as usual, has pithy coverage:

In American Atheists, Inc. v. City of Starke, Florida, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19512 (MD FL, March 19, 2007), a Florida federal district court held that Starke, Florida's placement and maintenance of a lighted cross on the top of the city's water tower violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. and Florida constitutions. The court held that the case was not moot even though the city had removed the cross. It granted plaintiffs' request for an injunction because it is not clear that city will not put the cross back up at a later date.

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Technorati tags: Church-state, Politics