Lake Elsinore Again Caught Up in Legal Battle Over Religious Symbols in Town

Lake Elsinore is again getting national attention for a fight brewing over the public display of religious symbols.

The Southern California city of 55,000 residents was first caught up in a battle over a veterans memorial that was supposed to be installed in front of the local baseball stadium.

Now, the same group who sued to ban that monument has also successfully forced a woman to remove roadside crosses that were placed in town in memory of her teen son, at the location of his death.

"She can grieve the way she wants, but she doesn't own the streets to the city," the woman who spearheaded the effort to get the signs removed told NBC4 Los Angeles.

She did not want to identify herself to the news agency because she says she fears for her safety.

"We're not doing this because we have anything against their religion, we just want everyone's beliefs to be respected," she told the news agency.  "I'm afraid that when people's emotions take the best of them, they don't always rationally behave, and I'm a target."

The crosses were removed on Thursday, but since then, several more have popped up in their place, put there by other people.

The original crosses had been at the location on Lake Street since the May 2012 death of Anthonty Devaney, who was killed when he was struck by a vehicle as he rode his skateboard.  He was 19.

The American Humanist Association (AHA) says they contacted the city of Lake Elsinore on March 4 when they learned that the cross still stood.

"On December 16, 2013, the city removed the cross after repeated requests, but reinstated it two days later with a deadline of removal on January 6, 2014," the AHA said.  "As of today, the cross has not yet been removed."

The group, which advocates for the rights of nonbelievers, sent a letter to the city demanding the cross removal from public land on the grounds of separation of church and state.  You can read that full letter here.

"It's still not fair," AnnMarie Devaney told NBC4.  "There's no reason why the cross had to come down.  The cross is up here for Anthony..."

As for the other case in town with which AHA was involved, a federal judge recently weighed in.

"On February 27, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled that a planned memorial, to be erected at Lake Elsinore’s minor league baseball team stadium, depicting a soldier kneeling in prayer before a cross, was unconstitutional," the organization said.

AHA describes itself as "...a national nonprofit organization with over 24,800 members, over 170 local chapters and affiliates, and over 190,000 online supporters across the country."



What do YOU think?  Should the crosses be allowed to remain at the site?  Or does the AHA argument stand?  Tell us in the comments.