PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A federal judge has ordered that a cross that has stood in a Florida public park for nearly half a century must come down.
The Pensacola News Journal reports that U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson ruled Monday that the 34-foot cross in Bayview Park violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution and must be removed within 30 days.
The American Humanist Association filed a lawsuit in 2016 on behalf of four Escambia County residents who said the cross violated the separation of church and state.
Court documents show a civic group built the current cross in 1969. An earlier cross had been at the location since 1941.
Pensacola spokesman Vernon Stewart says the city has received a copy of the order, and officials were reviewing it with legal counsel.
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Information from: Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com
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