Knightstown will remove cross from town Christmas tree

UPDATE Dec. 12, 1:52 PM: Knightstown officials say a cross atop the town's Christmas tree will be removed because the Henry County community could not win a lawsuit from the ACLU.

"It is with regret and sadness that the Knightstown Town Council has had the cross removed from the Christmas tree on the town square and is expected to approve a resolution at the next council meeting stating they will not return the cross to the tree," the council said in a Facebook post.

EARLIER: Does a cross belong on a Christmas display? That is the question the American Civil Liberties Union is asking the town of Knightstown this holiday season.

Indiana's chapter of the ACLU is suing the town, about 40 miles east of Indianapolis, arguing that the display of a Latin cross on the town square violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The suit, brought by Knightstown resident Joseph Tomkins, requests immediate removal of the cross, reasonable attorney’s fees and a declaration that the cross display violates the First Amendment.

Tomkins said he "objects to any of his tax dollars going to pay for the erection or maintenance of the display or the lighting of it," according to court documents.

The town square in Knightstown, a public area, is dominated by a large evergreen tree. During the Christmas season, it is decorated by the town with lights and ornaments, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court this week.

At the top of the tree is a large cross, which is illuminated at night. According to the lawsuit, the cross has been placed on the top of the tree for a number of years. There are no other holiday decorations on the square.

"The cross is the best known symbol of Christianity and Knightstown’s prominent display of this symbol represents an establishment of religion in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution," states the complaint, signed by Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana.

Complaints about overtly religious displays, holiday-oriented and otherwise, are nothing new.

The Supreme Court first addressed the constitutionality of public religious displays in 1980, when it reviewed a Kentucky law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. The court ruled Kentucky's law violated the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court relied on the precedent established in Lemon v. Kurtzman and the three-part "Lemon test." According to that ruling, the statue or display must have a secular legislative purpose, neither advancing nor prohibiting religious freedom, and must not result in an "excessive government entanglement" with religious affairs. The court concluded that because "requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school rooms has no secular legislative purpose," it is unconstitutional.

Satanic Temple lawsuit over Nativity scene dismissed

Most recently, the Church of Satan, through the ACLU, sued the state of Oklahoma over a large Ten Commandments statue on state capitol grounds.

The Satanic Temple did not have a problem with the monument, as long as it could erect its own statue beside it, a monument to Baphomet, a horned, winged, goat-reminiscent deity. The case resulted in the removal of the Ten Commandments statue — and no erection of the satanic display.

Whether the court decides to remove the cross in Knightstown, polls show that a majority of Americans support government acknowledgment of religion.

In a 2005 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 83 percent of Americans said displays of Christmas symbols should be allowed on government property.

In another 2005 Pew poll, 74 percent of Americans said they believed it was proper to display the Ten Commandments in government buildings.

A representative from the ACLU declined comment, and a representative from Knightstown did not respond to IndyStar requests for comment.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the plaintiff’s monetary request. The request sought costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

Call IndyStar reporter Fatima Hussein at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter: @fatimathefatima.