Departments of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US

Supreme Court Rules to Protect Govt. Monuments; VFW Monument Challenge to be Heard

Posted at 11:29 AM on Thursday, February 26, 2009 by VFW News

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today [Wednesday], The Supreme Court announced its ruling in Pleasant Grove, Utah v. Summum which says that the presence of a donated monument does not require the acceptance of all donated monuments. The ruling, which reverses the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling, works in favor of veterans' memorials nationwide, since many are donated and would have been threatened by the Tenth Circuit's ruling. The Court's majority opinion specifically references the brief filed by Liberty Legal Institute on behalf of the veterans.

"The millions of veterans we represent are pleased and see this as a crucial first step in protecting our veterans' memorials from attacks nationwide," said Kelly Shackelford , chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute, which represents the major veterans groups who filed a brief in the case. "These attacks on veterans' memorials are a disgrace and we are hopeful that the Salazar case, which the Court just granted review, will finally put an end to these sad assaults on our American heritage."

The Supreme Court heard the Summum case on November 12, 2008. Liberty Legal Institute filed an amicus brief on behalf of the largest-ever coalition of veterans, including The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH), Non-Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA), American Ex-Prisoners of War (AXPOW), and Veterans of the Vietnam War (VVnW) and the Veterans Coalition.

See prior story for background

On Monday, The Supreme Court announced its acceptance of the war memorial case Salazar (Interior Secretary) v. Buono, which deals with the 8-foot-tall Mojave Desert Cross. The Ninth Circuit ruled that the memorial to World War I veterans is unconstitutional, and a proposal to transfer the land to the VFW, which erected the cross in 1934, was also ruled unconstitutional by the court.

See LA Times story for more