In Rare Burst of Writing, Seven Justices Explain ‘Cross’ Ruling

There was broad agreement among the justices in their church-state ruling allowing a World War I memorial in the shape of a cross to stand, but you wouldn’t know it based on the amount of ink spilled to explain it.

In addition to the 31-page majority opinion allowing the 40-foot “Peace Cross” to continue standing in Maryland where it’s been for nearly a century, there were five concurring opinions and one dissent.

Justice Samuel Alito joked that he and his colleagues were “quite prolific in our writings” while announcing the court’s 7-2 decision in the Establishment Clause case from the ...