Roadside Signs for Fallen Police Officers

LETTER TO THE EDITOR POSTED 12/21/2011 IN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE.

BACKGROUND: The issue is related to a court case brought by a group of Atheists against the state of Utah. The case was over the placement of 12 foot high white Christian crosses  placed on the public roadway property. They have the officers name, the symbol of the Utah Highway Patrol and the date they died on at that location. The state district court supported the Utah Highway Patrol Association who paid for and placed the crosses. The Atheists appealed to the court of appeals. That court overturned the lower court ruling and ruled that the crosses violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution. This clause prohibits the government from establishing a religion, thus the courts over the past 230 years have ruled that any use of public property by any religion is a violation of this clause. The State of Utah appealed that ruling to the US Supreme Court. However it refused to review the appeals courts ruling, thus the lower courts ruling stands and become the law of the land. So the UHPA is required to remove the fourteen crosses. The UHPA is a private association of highway patrol officers and not a government agency or otherwise associated with the Utah Highway Patrol law enforcement agency of the State of Utah.

THE LETTER:

In compliance with a federal court’s decision banning memorial crosses on public land, three state agencies have recently sent letters to the Utah Highway Patrol Association requesting that all such roadside memorials be removed.

If this issue is really about honoring the brave officers who lost their lives on duty, there is a much better way that would not have the religious entanglement. Many states put up a very nice roadside sign that simply states in four easy-to-read lines:

In memory of

Sgt. John Doe

Utah Highway Patrol

[their badge or patch image]

Died in the line of duty July 4, 2009.

These signs are much more visible, especially at freeway speeds, and without any religious symbolism. The cost could be shared with public funds appropriated by state and local governments and the UHPA, as well as by other city and county police associations that have officers who have given their lives in the line of duty.

If  Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and the UHPA continue their push to retain the crosses, then the fight really is about religious symbolism rather than honoring the sacrifice these brave officers made for the public they served and protected.

Robert Murri

South Jordan