County of Allegheny v. ACLU - The Controversy Continues

The debate over religious displays in Pittsburgh, as well as in the rest of the United States, has not ended since the Allegheny decision. In 1996 The Ku Klux Klan petitioned to display a cross bearing the Klan's insignia in the county courthouse courtyard. The petition came just five days after a coalition of local black clergy asked the commissioners for permission to erect a creche in the courthouse courtyard. Allegheny County Commissioner Bob Cranmer withdrew his support of the creche display after receiving the Klan's request. Cranmer said, "I think it is necessary that we take a prudent position and not permit the use of the courtyard as a public forum."