GRAND HAVEN (AP) - A lawsuit opposing a western Michigan community's decision to remove a 48-foot cross from city-owned land has been dismissed.
Ottawa County Circuit Judge Jon Hulsing ruled in a written opinion Tuesday that Grand Haven has the right to do what it wants with its own property.
The Grand Haven City Council passed a resolution in January to remove the cross on the Dewey Hill sand dune after a group supporting the separation of church and state threatened to sue if its members were not allowed to erect their own displays on the hill, according to the Grand Haven Tribune.
The cross was first put up in 1964. The council decided in January to reconfigure it into an anchor.
Seven Grand Haven residents later filed suit against the city, arguing that removing the cross was unconstitutional.
City attorney Robert Schindler countered that Grand Haven owns the monument and the property and has the right to decide what goes there.
Hulsing contended that the residents in the lawsuit disagreed with a policy decision made by the City Council.
"That government speech offends portions of the electorate is to be expected," he wrote in his ruling. "The alternative is no alternative in that the government could not take a position on any matter. The city of Grand Haven's resolution limiting the fixture to promoting the United States Coast Guard and the city's long relationship with the Coast Guard is a valid exercise of its inherent authority to establish policy.
"Should plaintiffs seek to change that policy, they are free to do so through political means."
Helen Brinkman, an attorney for the residents in the lawsuit, said they will appeal Hulsing's decision.
Published: Fri, Aug 28, 2015
