Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : High Court to Rule on Klan’s Cross

The Supreme Court will hear an appeal of a ruling allowing the Ku Klux Klan to display a cross on public property. While government cannot erect a religious symbol on its property, lower courts have split on whether private groups can do so. In December, 1993, the Ohio klan asked to erect a cross in front of the Columbus Statehouse. State officials refused, saying they would appear to endorse Christianity. But a federal judge ruled that the klan had a free-speech right to erect its cross. A group of Christian ministers then asked to display 20 other crosses in the same square. State attorneys appealed to the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in April and issue a ruling by July.