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Small Texas Town Comes Under Fire For Cross In Public Park

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A small West Texas city is coming under scrutiny by the Freedom from Religion Foundation for a cross that sits in a public park.

Staff attorney Sam Grover said Thursday that the Wisconsin-based organization wrote the small town of Spur's officials in July after a resident contacted the foundation to complain. He says the cross on public land violates the Establishment Clause of the constitution's First Amendment.

The foundation has no problem with the cross -- about 12 feet tall atop a hill in the park -- if it's on private land.

Spur is a farming and ranching community of about 1,300 residents in Dickens County, about an hour east of Lubbock.

The foundation has ongoing lawsuits over crosses in other municipal parks. In April, it sued Santa Clara, California, and in May it sued Pensacola, Florida.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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