By Austin Wright
NORFOLK
A local Christian group has a right to free speech but they “don’t have to shout,” a federal judge in Norfolk said Tuesday when he denied the group’s request to display a 12-foot-tall cross at a Fourth of July celebration in a Chesapeake city park.
Last year city employees asked Christian Rights Ministries to remove the cross from the celebration at Lakeside Park following a parade. The group alleges that city employees said the cross was “too blatantly Christian,” but the employees said during Tuesday’s court hearing that they had the cross removed for safety reasons.
In April, Ministries’ founder Steve Taylor filed a federal civil rights suit against Chesapeake and asked for an injunction to force the city to allow the cross at this year’s celebration.
Taylor did not apply for a booth at this year’s celebration, saying new regulations banning objects taller than 8 feet convinced him the effort was futile.
Two city employees testified that they recommended height limitations to event organizers because of safety concerns. They were concerned that tall objects, like the cross, could fall and hurt someone.
Following several hours of testimony, U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar said Chesapeake’s new height restriction is justified, and he denied the injunction request.
However, Doumar said, the group’s civil rights suit may have merit because one of the new regulations requires city officials to judge the appropriateness of celebration displays.
Taylor said the religious group cannot communicate its message effectively without the cross.
Jonathan Scruggs, the group’s lawyer, said the ministries will to seek nominal damages and a declaration of wrongdoing from the city.
“We’re doing this to validate the violation of past rights,” said Scruggs, who works for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative response to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Jeffrey Salb, the city’s attorney, said he’s happy the decades-old Fourth of July celebration will go on unaffected, and noted that other Christian groups have participated in the celebration without incident.
“The city has no objection to crosses,” he said. “There’s a reasonable and rational basis for height limitations based on safety concerns.”
The suit names the city of Chesapeake as a defendant, along with several employees: Robert Clifton, Chesapeake’s director of parks and recreation; Donna Hill, Chesapeake’s recreation superintendent; and Brenda Johnson, the chairwoman of the Fourth of July celebration.
In his testimony, Taylor said that at last year’s celebration the cross was allowed in the parade, but he said Hill and Johnson told him to remove it from Lakeside Park or the police would remove it for him.
A Ministries member carried the cross on his back to the front of the courthouse on Tuesday morning, and then placed it in the back of the courtroom. During the hearing, two defense attorneys held the cross up in front of the judge.
“This is not suppression of speech — it’s clearly a case of how loud that speech can be,” Doumar said. “I don’t see anything wrong with the 8-foot regulation.”
Austin Wright, (757) 446-2667, austin.wright@pilotonline.com
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There was no one out there with a 12 ft Rainbow
Get over it! If someone really wants to save souls, they need to CLEARLY demonstrate how Christ changed their awful lives into something new and beautiful. From there, others will follow. Hate only begets hate. Lies beget lies. Truth begets truth... etc, etc. No one needs a visual symbol of one of the most awful forms of torture invented. It means nothing to our society. 50 years ago, hanging someone could be equated with crucifiction. Now, it is lethal injection. Someday soon, who knows what it will be?
Get with the times, Christians living a CHRIST like life will have more impact on others doing so than someone carrying a cross through a park. Read the words "written in red".
The Headline is Misleading
"Judge denies Christian group's request to display cross" I'm a Christian and naturally this headline caught my attention since I'm normally on the bandwagon to defend these issues. BUT, it sounds to me like this is merely a case of everyone following the rules set down by the City to have a safe and orderly event. If everyone has to follow the guidelines for 8 feet then it seems fair. If the Christians are singled out with separate rules then I would be angry. As Christians we are to respect and obey our governing authorities. I think Mr. Taylor needs to choose his battles more carefully in the future since this makes Christians look bad. That's just my opinion.
Always the same from the far Left
District Judge Robert G. Doumar is exhibiting religious bigotry in the worst form. He should be ashamed of himself but we know he won’t. Shame shame shame. Can't we do better? Of course
Im Apalled
I thought this site was monitored for personnel attacks against each other
Pilot online dropped the ball on this one.
Amazing?
Amazing the love displayed here.....I made no disparaging comment in the least and the hatred in return. MY POINT WAS THIS. A rainbow would have been allowed, but not a cross. In such a pluralistic culture why should not BOTH be allowed? What is the threat that everyone fears so? Everyone has the right to believe and/or accept whatever they want. The last I checked there were no guns or guillotines at the heads of anyone in this country (as in other countries throughout history)to force them to believe anything. Let's ALL be heard. 'Nuf said.
Free speech but stop marketing
Steven Taylor has the right to free speech like every one else in the park, the problem is that he hides behind the cross to promote his law firm. Every piece of literature he handed out that day had his law firm written all over it. Its not about religion but the law firm using the non-profit group as a marketing tool and a way to get around property taxes for the firms computers and furniture. If you doubt this, just look at their website at ChristianRights.org and see how quickly you can get to the law firm's web site.
I can see the lawsuit already . . .
'Twelve foot cross falls and injures child. Church to be sued.' They should be glad they were stopped from having such a tall object there. With everything from tent poles to rides collapsing on people and the bottom-feeding attorneys having a hey-day each time it happens, the city is only protecting itself from liability too. Good move on the judge's part.
Philip ....
is right. These religious folks had the right to stand and preach as long as it wasn't in a style that disturbed others and infringed on their rights not to listen. If the signs or the rainbow posed a threat to anyone's safety then the parks people should require they be taken down. But an easy way to settle this would be to make an 8 foot cross and display it, within the regulations and ensuring safety. How unfortunate that this group doesn't know how to compromise and do this. Nothing more than children with immature minds.
lol...only verizon and budweiser can have 12' signs on city land
How insightful.
Of course, some people don't display the cross because it is against the first commandment to make anything that can be worshipped as an idol. If you cannot make your Christian point without a cross it shows that you are relying on an idol. The Great Commission says to preach the Good News (the saving power of Christ) and thus to reach the world.
So preach it, each and every one of you. You don't need a cross. You need your salvation reaching out to others and telling them how Jesus has changed your lives to the better.
Can't communicate effectively?
"Taylor said the religious group cannot communicate its message effectively without the cross."
That's a laugh. I've seen people do it all the time without a cross or even a Bible, try another lame excuse, this time put some thought into it....
12' Rainbow
COOL!
AMEN, brother!!
...
The same people who killed Jesus would do something like this..
I personally do not want any religious displays on any public property or event hosted by our government. In the video, they try to make the point that the country was founded by Christians and should be part of the celebration. This is blatantly false. Most of the founding fathers loathed organized religion, especially Christianity, but accepted it as part of the population's needs. In fact, modern Christianity did not even exist until after the year 1500. These people will try to force their religion on us all in the guise of “saving us” and we need good decisions like this to keep them in line. All they are doing is tying up our court system and suing our cities for money to further their power.
OR.....................
A 12 foot rainbow.