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ACLU Defends Religious Expression
In what may be the first case defending the constitutional right of religious expression at a cemetery, the ACLU of Florida's Palm Beach County Chapter filed a lawsuit on January 12th to prevent the removal or destruction of monuments, statutes and vertical religious ornaments at the Boca Raton Municipal Cemetery. The lawsuit was filed as a class action, naming seven families, representing Protestant, Catholic and Jewish faiths,
The City threatened to enforce cemetery regulations that would require removal or destruction of the religious ornaments beginning January 15th. Some of the families involved in the lawsuit have had religious articles erected at the gravesites of their deceased loved ones with the permission of cemetery officials since 1984. They have also covered the gravesites with floral ground cover or erected barriers around the grave sites to signify their religious faith and to prevent desecration by people walking on the graves in accordance with their religious traditions.
The City voluntarily postponed enforcement following the filing of the lawsuit. The case is scheduled to be heard in the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County in midFebruary. The City hired Nova Southeastern Law School Professor, and wellknown First Amendment specialist, Bruce Rogow to defend the case against the cemetery.
Souhail Karram buried his wife at the cemetery in 1994, and with permission of the cemetery manager decorated his wife's grave with a wooden border connected with small ropes and a standing cross. Ian Payne's 24yearold son was killed in an automobile crash in 1983. His plot is covered with stones, as dictated by the Payne's Jewish tradition, with a bench overlooking it. Charlotte's Danciu's grandparents are both buried at the Boca Raton Cemetery, her grandmother beneath a twofoot statue of the Virgin Mary, and her grandfather beneath a matching statue of St. Francis of Assisi.
City officials have said that they are simply enforcing rules that have been on the books, though not enforced, since 1982.
The City has cited a number of reasons why it believes it has become necessary to begin enforcing the rules: it is difficult to water, cut the grass and otherwise maintain the graves with the presence of religious ornaments; some of those who purchased gravesites claim they did so with the assurance that the rules would be enforced permitting only horizontal markers and prohibiting all vertical displays; and complaints by some residents that some of the displays are "not in good taste," and that part of the cemetery "looks like Coney Island."
"There are few rights Americans cherish more than the right to honor a loved one according to the dictates of their religion at their gravesite. It's not about whether they can ban pink flamingos. They can enact all kinds of rules, but there aren't exceptions in the Constitution permitting restrictions on religious speech if the religious expression is too cluttered, or too messy, or not meeting with someone's sense of good taste," ACLU of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon said at a West Palm Beach news conference. "That's a form of religious intolerance."
The seven families are represented by ACLU volunteer attorneys Lynn G. Waxman and James K. Green of West Palm Beach, and Charlotte H. Danciu of Boca Raton.
