'Big Mountain Jesus' case goes before 9th Circuit on Tuesday
<p>The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that this statue of Jesus can remain on Big Mountain. (Whitefish Pilot file photo)</p>
The legal case to decide the fate of a Jesus statue at Whitefish Mountain Resort has been resurrected on appeal.
The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on Tuesday in Portland. A Wisconsin-based group has sued to force the removal of the statue from the ski resort, which sits on U.S. Forest Service land.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation originally sued in 2012.
“A large statue of Jesus on public land, on government land, is a violation of the Constitution,” said Rebecca Markert, an attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “It’s no different from a cross on public land, which the 9th Circuit has deemed unconstitutional.”
The foundation appealed the 2013 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen that the 6-foot-tall depiction of Jesus Christ can remain on the mountain.
Christensen said that the statue doesn’t represent a government’s endorsement of religion because a private business leases the land and a private organization raised the statue.
Defendants in this case include the U.S. Forest Service and the Knights of Columbus.
The Kalispell Knights chapter commissioned the statue more than 60 years ago. They have maintained that it’s a World War II veteran memorial.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has taken up the legal battle on behalf of the defendants. Eric Baxter, an attorney with the organization, said the monument was installed by war veterans to reflect what they’d seen fighting in the Alps.
He echoed Christensen’s decision, saying that the statue is clearly endorsed by private organizations and wasn’t controversial for nearly 60 years.
“You can’t censor or scrub our history or culture just because it has religious aspects,” Baxter said.
This case has received national attention and was a topic of high interest even prior to the lawsuit.
In 2011, when Flathead National Forest Supervisor Chip Weber was deciding whether or not to renew a special permit for the statue, the forest received 95,000 comments.
Weber ultimately announced that the permit would be renewed (reversing an earlier decision) and the lawsuit followed.
Among the statue’s supporters is Montana Attorney General Tim Fox. He filed a brief with the 9th Circuit Court asking that the previous court’s ruling be upheld. The American Legion also has intervened to defend the statue.
Court proceedings will take place at the Pioneer Courthouse in Portland, Ore.
Reporter Matt Hudson may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.