A 40-foot-tall, World War I memorial cross can continue to stand on public land in Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in an important decision about the use of religious symbols in American life. The justices said preserving a long-standing religious monument is very different from allowing the building of a new one. And the court concluded that the nearly 100-year-old memorial’s presence on a grassy highway median doesn’t violate the Constitution’s prohibition on the government favoring one religion over others. Seven of the court’s nine justices sided with the cross’ backers, a lineup that crossed ideological lines. The case had been closely watched for its potential impact on other monuments. Defenders of the cross in Bladensburg, a suburb of the nation’s capital, had argued that a ruling against them could doom hundreds of war memorials that use crosses to commemorate soldiers who died.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} A man walking his dog in San Francisco’s Mission district early Friday morning was threatened by two men with a knife who police said ended up stabbing his pet to death.
The attack has outraged dog owners in San Francisco. Police are urging dog owners to be on guard.
"I always feel safe walking around with my dog," said San Francisco resident Lily Eggers. "It's very upsetting that I may not be as safe as I feel."
According to the San Francisco police, one of the suspects grabbed the dog, a pit bull, sparking a street fight between the three men at the intersection of 22nd and Bartlett streets about 3 a.m.
After the two suspects, both in their 20s, ran away, the owner realized his dog had been stabbed. The dog later died of its injuries at a nearby animal hospital.
"We don't have any indication that the suspects were after his property, it appears they were after his dog," said Gordon Shyy of the San Francisco Police Department. "It's definitely a serious case - the animal cruelty charge is a felony which has serious consequences."
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Pet lovers said they hope the attackers are caught and punished.
"Injuring an animal like that should almost be comparable to injuring a human," said dog owner Patrick Uhm.
“I hope they throw the book at them,” dog owner Alicia Wang said. “To try to hurt a defenseless animal is outrageous. It's as outrageous as if someone tried to stab a child.”
