The Liberty Institute is hopeful the court will grant a motion allowing a veteran memorial depicting a soldier kneeling before a cross.
Last Wednesday The American Legion and The American Legion Post 290 of King, N.C., sought to intervene in a lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina challenging the constitutionality of a Veterans Memorial in the town's Central Park. The motion, filed by the Liberty Institute, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, and Brooks Pierce, seeks to permit The American Legion to participate in Hewett v. City of King, NC, in order to defend the town's display of a statue of a soldier kneeling before a cross-shaped headstone. To view the motion online, visit: https://www.libertyinstitute.org/document.doc?id=48.
In 2009, the local Legion Post 290 contributed half the cost of the memorial's construction and contributed to its design. Each year the American Legion participates in patriotic Memorial Day and 9-1-1 events at the Veterans Memorial site.
"We are hopeful that the Court will grant our client, The American Legion, the right to intervene in order to protect its interests in the Veterans Memorial, which they gave substantial time, resources and money to erect in honor of our Nation's veterans," said Hiram Sasser, Liberty Institute's Director of Litigation.
In 2012, the lawsuit, Steven Hewett v. City of King, North Carolina , ensued when Steven Hewett filed a complaint against the City of King, NC, alleging that the public display of the statue of a solider kneeling before a cross violated his rights.
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