Lawsuit over statue slated for 2013 trial

by The Daily Inter Lake
| June 9, 2012 7:11 AM

The court case challenging the Jesus statue on Big Mountain has been scheduled in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

Judge Dana Christensen, a former Flathead Valley attorney, will preside over the case that was filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation against the Flathead National Forest.

The foundation challenges the legality of the statue being located on national forest land above Chair 2 at Whitefish Mountain Resort.

The statue has been maintained there by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, for nearly 60 years.

After recent proceedings in Christensen’s court, a trial has been scheduled to start in March 2013, said Joe Krueger, the Flathead Forest’s environmental coordinator.

Discovery is set to begin Nov. 1 and motions will get under way in January 2013.

The Knights of Columbus and the Liberty Institute have been given intervenor status in the case.

While the Freedom From Religion Foundation contends that the statue violates the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, the Knights of Columbus maintain that the statue is a veterans memorial and its presence is protected by First Amendment speech rights.