Supreme Court Backs 40-Foot Cross in Maryland Intersection

The U.S. Supreme Court said a 40-foot cross can continue serving as a war memorial in a busy Maryland intersection, a ruling that bolsters the government’s power to display religious symbols on public property.

The justices, voting 7-2, rejected contentions that the monument, in the Washington suburb of Bladensburg, represents an unconstitutional government endorsement of Christianity. The concrete memorial was erected almost a century ago to honor 49 local men who died in World War I.

“The cross is undoubtedly a Christian symbol, but that fact should not blind us to everything else that the Bladensburg Cross has come to ...