In last week’s decision in the American Legion vs. American Humanist Association, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a free-standing, 40-foot cross on government land in Bladensburg, Md., did not violate the First Amendment’s “no establishment” clause, reversing a lower court’s ruling.
Seven justices agreed with that judgment, with only Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting. But the ruling was splintered and the decision more limited than the vote count suggests.
In upholding the argument that the monument should remain, the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, focused on its specific history and its context as a World War I memorial.