Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/18pdf/17-1717_4f14.pdf
Page Number: 67.0

Cite as:  588 U. S. ____ (2019) 

1 

GINSBURG,  J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

Nos. 17–1717 and 18–18 
_________________ 

17–1717 

THE AMERICAN LEGION, ET AL., PETITIONERS 
v. 
AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION, ET AL.; AND 

MARYLAND-NATIONAL CAPITAL PARK AND 
PLANNING COMMISSION, PETITIONER 
v. 
AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION, ET AL. 

18–18 

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

[June 20, 2019]

  JUSTICE  GINSBURG,  with  whom  JUSTICE  SOTOMAYOR 
joins, dissenting. 
  An immense Latin cross stands on a traffic island at the 
center  of  a  busy three-way intersection in Bladensburg, 
Maryland.1  “[M]onumental, clear, and bold” by day, App. 
914, the cross looms even larger illuminated against the 
night-time sky.  Known as the Peace Cross, the monument 
was  erected  by  private  citizens  in  1925  to  honor  local 
soldiers who lost their lives in World War I.  “[T]he town’s 
most  prominent symbol” was rededicated in 1985 and is 
now said to honor “the sacrifices made [in] all wars,” id., at 
868 (internal quotation marks omitted), by “all veterans,” 
id., at 195.  Both the Peace Cross and the traffic island are 
owned and maintained by the Maryland-National Capital 
Park and Planning Commission (Commission), an agency 
of the State of Maryland. 
—————— 

1 A  photograph  of  the monument and a map showing its location are 

reproduced in the Appendix, infra, at 19.