Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/18pdf/17-1717_4f14.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2018 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is 
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued. 
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been 
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United  States  v. Detroit Timber  & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

AMERICAN LEGION ET AL. v. AMERICAN HUMANIST 
ASSN. ET AL. 

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED  STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR 
THE FOURTH CIRCUIT 

No. 17–1717.  Argued February 27, 2019—Decided June 20, 2019 * 

In  1918,  residents  of  Prince  George’s  County,  Maryland,  formed  a 
committee for the purpose of erecting a memorial for the county’s sol-
diers  who  fell  in  World  War  I.  The committee decided that the me-
morial  should  be  a  cross,  which  was  not  surprising  since  the  plain 
Latin  cross  had  become  a  central  symbol  of  the  war.    The image of 
row  after  row  of  plain  white  crosses  marking the overseas graves of 
soldiers  was  emblazoned  on  the  minds  of  Americans  at home.  The 
memorial  would  stand  at  the  terminus  of  another World War I me-
morial—the  National  Defense  Highway  connecting  Washington  to 
Annapolis.  When the committee ran out of funds, the local American 
Legion  took  over  the  project, completing the memorial in 1925.  The 
32-foot tall Latin cross displays the American Legion’s emblem at its 
center  and  sits  on  a  large  pedestal  bearing,  inter  alia,  a  bronze 
plaque that lists the names of the 49 county soldiers who had fallen 
in  the  war.  At the dedication ceremony, a Catholic priest offered an 
invocation and a Baptist pastor offered a benediction.  The Bladens-
burg Cross (Cross) has since been the site of patriotic events honoring 
veterans  on,  e.g.,  V eterans  Day,  Memorial  Day,  and  Independence 
Day.    Monuments  honoring  the veterans of other conflicts have been 
added in a park near the Cross.  As the area around the Cross devel-
oped,  the  monument  came to be at the center of a busy intersection.  
In 1961, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commis-
sion (Commission) acquired the Cross and the land where it sits, but 

—————— 

* Together  with  No.  18–18,  Maryland-National  Capital  Park  and 
Planning  Commission  v.  American  Humanist  Assn.  et al.,  also on certi-
orari to the same court.