WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and SportsU.S. Supreme Court case to impact future of Zunker memorial

U.S. Supreme Court case to impact future of Zunker memorial

Chippewa County (WQOW) - Chippewa County plans to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a separate case before it decides how to handle the Jason Zunker memorial.

"Right now the Supreme Court has a case in front of it concerning a cross in the Mojave Desert. We would like to see what the answer, what the Supreme Court has the answer to that. That could have some concern on what's going on here in the City of Chippewa Falls," says county board member Mike Murphy.

That case concerns a cross that sits on public land in California. It was put there 75 years ago as a memorial to soldiers who were killed in World War I. 

A lawsuit was filed by a man who believes the presence of the cross violates the separation of church and state. The courts agreed, but then congress voted to transfer the land where the cross sits into private hands so it could stay up. The Supreme Court is considering whether the constitution is still being violated despite that move.

"For the government to say, we are going to impose on each and every one of you veterans this religious symbol even though for many of you it is not your religious symbol. That is not an appropriate expression of religion in public life," says Peter Eliasberg of the ACLU of Southern California.

The high court is now hearing arguments in that case.  

Back to Chippewa County. The Zunker memorial will stay put at least until the next meeting about it November 12th. The memorial, which sits on public land, is dedicated to Deputy Jason Zunker who was killed in the line of duty last year. An issue is an inscription about Jesus on one of the tablets.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation has called on the county to remove it because of concerns about separation of church and state. No lawsuits have been filed, but the county says it's received phone calls from legal groups that are offering their services pro bono in case anything is filed.

-------------------------------------------

Chippewa County (WQOW) - The Zunker Memorial Committee will wait until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a specific case before it decides what to do about the controversial monument in Chippewa County.

Thursday morning, the committee made the decision to wait for a ruling from the nation's highest court on a case involving a cross that sits on public land in California.  The cross was put up on the Mojave National Preserve 75 years ago as a memorial to soldiers who were killed in World War I.

A lawsuit was filed by a man who believes the presence of the cross violates the separation of church and state.  The courts agreed, but then Congress voted to transfer the one acre on which the cross sits into private hands so it could stay up.  The Supreme Court is considering whether the Constitution is still being violated despite that move.

The memorial in Chippewa County is dedicated to Deputy Jason Zunker, who was killed in the line of duty last year.   The monument, which sits on public land outside the sheriff's department, includes an inscription about Jesus.  Recently, the Freedom From Religion Foundation called on the county to remove the memorial because of those words.

No lawsuit has been filed, but a county committee has voted to give the group that paid for the monument more time to come up with a plan to pay for any lawsuits that may stem from leaving it where it is.

Thursday morning, the county said it has received calls from legal teams who support the placement of the memorial on public land and claim they will represent the county pro bono.