AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC. v. DUNCAN

No. 08-4061.

616 F.3d 1145 (2010)

AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC., a Texas non-profit corporation; R. Andrews; S. Clark; and M. Rivers, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Scott T. DUNCAN, Colonel, Superintendent of Utah Highway Patrol; Lance Davenport, Superintendent, Utah Highway Patrol, in his official capacity; John Njord, Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation; and F. Keith Stepan, Director Division of Facilities Construction and Management Department of Administrative Services, Defendants-Appellees, and Utah Highway Patrol Association, Defendant-Intervenor-Appellee. The Unitarian Universalist Association; the Union for Reform Judaism; the Society for Humanistic Judaism; the Interfaith Alliance; the Hindu American Foundation; the Anti-Defamation League; Eugene J. Fisher; Americans United for Separation of Church and State; American Humanist Association; Foundation for Moral Law; Robert E. Mackey; the American Legion; State of Colorado; State of Kansas; State of New Mexico; State of Oklahoma; the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; Gregory Bell; Curtis Bramble; Allen Christensen; David Clark; Margaret Dayton; Brad Dee; Dan Eastman; John Greiner; Wayne Harper; John Hickman; Lyle Hillyard; Sheldon Killpack; Peter Knudson; Michael Morley; Wayne Niederhauser; Howard Stephenson; Dennis Stowell; Aaron Tilton; John Valentine; Kevin Vantassell; Carlene Walker; City of Santa Fe; Utah Sheriffs' Association, Amici Curiae.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

August 18, 2010.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Brian M. Barnard of Utah Civil Rights & Liberties Foundation, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Thom D. Roberts , Assistant Utah Attorney General ( Mark L. Shurtleff , Attorney General, with him on brief), Salt Lake City, UT, for Defendants-Appellees.

Byron J. Babione of Alliance Defense Fund ( Benjamin W. Bull and David R. Sheasby of Alliance Defense Fund, Scottsdale, AZ, Frank D. Mylar of Mylar Law P.C., Cottonwood Heights, UT, and Steven Fitschen of the National Legal Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA, with him on brief), Scottsdale, AZ, for Defendant-Intervenor-Appellee.

Luke W. Goodrich of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Washington, D.C. ( Eric C. Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Washington, D.C., Steve Six , Attorney General, Topeka, KS, Gary K. King , Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, W.A. Drew Edmondson , Attorney General, Oklahoma City, OK, John W. Suthers , Attorney General, Denver, CO, Daniel D. Domenico , Solicitor General, Denver, CO, and Geoffrey N. Blue , Deputy Attorney General, Denver, CO, with him on the brief) for Amici Curiae, the States of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, in support of Defendants-Appellees.

Robert Ritter of Appignani Humanist Legal Center, American Humanist Association, Washington, D.C., filed an amici curiae brief for American Humanist Association, Society for Humanistic Judaism, and Unitarian Universalist Association, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Evan M. Tager and David M. Gossett of Mayer Brown LLP, Washington, D.C., and Brian M. Willen of Mayer Brown LLP, New York, NY, Steven M. Freeman , Steven C. Sheinberg , and Michelle N. Deutchman of Anti-Defamation League, New York, NY, Mark J. Pelavin of Union for Reform Judaism, Washington, D.C., Ayesha N. Khan and Richard B. Katskee of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Washington, D.C., and Suhag A. Shukla of Hindu American Foundation, Kensington, MD, filed an amici curiae brief for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Anti-Defamation League, the Hindu American Foundation, the Interfaith Alliance, the Union for Reform Judaism, and Dr. Eugene Fisher, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Roy S. Moore , John A. Eidsmoe , and Benjamin D. DuPrè for Foundation for Moral Law, Montgomery, AL, filed an amicus curiae brief for Foundation for Moral Law, in support of Defendants-Appellees.

Michael A. Sink of Perkins Coie LLP, Denver, CO, filed an amicus curiae brief for Robert E. Mackey , in support of Defendants-Appellees.

John Ansbro of Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe LLP, New York, NY, filed an amicus curiae brief for the American Legion, in support of Defendants-Appellees.

Chad N. Boudreaux and Adam J. White of Baker Botts, LLP, Washington, D.C., filed an amici curiae brief on behalf of Gregory Bell , Curtis Bramble , Allen Christensen , David Clark , Margaret Dayton , Brad Dee , Dan Eastman , John Greiner , Wayne Harper , John Hickman , Lyle Hillyard , Sheldon Killpack , Peter Knudson , Michael Morley , Wayne Niederhauser , Howard Stephenson , Dennis Stowell , Aaron Tilton , John Valentine , Kevin VanTassell and Carlene Walker (collectively "Utah Legislators") and City of Santa Fe, in support of Defendants-Appellees.

Kevin T. Snider of Pacific Justice Institute, Sacramento, CA, filed an amicus curiae brief for Utah Sheriffs' Association, in support of Defendants-Appellees.

Before TACHA, EBEL, and HARTZ, Circuit Judges.


EBEL, Circuit Judge.

The Utah Highway Patrol Association ("UHPA"), with the permission of Utah state authorities, erected a number of twelve-foot high crosses on public land to memorialize fallen Utah Highway Patrol ("UHP") troopers. Plaintiffs-Appellants, American Atheists, Inc., a Texas non-profit organization, and three individual members of American Atheists who reside in Utah, challenge the legality of these memorials under the Establishment Clause of the federal...

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