Men won't contest crosses on Las Cruces city logo

| The Associated Press

10/30/2008 -

LAS CRUCES — Two men have given up their fight to remove crosses from Las Cruces' logo after appellate judges rejected a request to rehear their lawsuit against the city, whose name means "the crosses" in Spanish.

Paul Weinbaum said he and co-plaintiff Martin Boyd decided not to pursue further action because of the cost and a U.S. Supreme Court he views as conservative.

Weinbaum, who is Jewish, and Boyd, an atheist, have argued that the crosses on the logo violate the constitutional separation of church and state. The city and the Las Cruces school district use logos that include three crosses.

In September, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that dismissed the men's lawsuit against the city. The judges also rejected another lawsuit by Weinbaum against Las Cruces Public Schools. The appellate court last Friday denied the men's request to reconsider, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as their only option.

"We can't go forward," Weinbaum said. "We don't have enough money and it would be a pathetic trip to Washington (to the Supreme Court)."

The city and the schools argued that the crosses on the logos were intended as a secular symbol rooted in the city's history.

Weinbaum said that if Supreme Court justices rejected the men's lawsuit, "that tells every city, every religious group that's forcing their views of religion in the schools — and in the public schools — it would give them carte blanche to do it, and that's the danger."

Weinbaum sued the Las Cruces Public Schools over its logo in 2003 and sued the city in 2005. Boyd joined as a plaintiff on the city case.

A federal judge rejected both challenges in 2006, and they were consolidated in the appeal to the Denver court.

Mayor Ken Miyagishima said he was pleased the men had decided to end their effort.

"They explained their view and we explained our view," Miyagishima said. "The court supported our position that this is not a religious symbol. This is merely the history of the city of Las Cruces and nothing else."

Weinbaum does not regret filing the lawsuits.

"What kind of citizen would I be if I just slinked away and hid from these people that are trying to take over America?" he said.