Jewish groups charged that the symbol too closely resembled the Christian cross and urged the state to either adopt a nonsectarian symbol or be prepared to honor requests from people of different faiths.
“We felt this policy trampled on the rights of all non-Christians, that it offended many who are Christian and don’t believe the state should be in the memorial business, and that it violated the spirit and possibly the letter of the First Amendment,” said Jack Lipsey, president of the American Jewish Committee’s South Central Florida region.
Under the policy, implemented Jan. 1 and dropped last week, Jewish families would have been barred from erecting Stars of David at accident sites in memory of loved ones.
Florida abandoned the policy in the face of objections from Jewish and civil liberties organizations. There were also threats of a lawsuit.
“It was never our intention to offend anyone with our new policy,” Ben Watts, Florida’s secretary of transportation, said in a statement. “We simply want to make motorists more aware of highway safety when they drive by the memorial markers.”
The department will now attempt to design a new memorial marker, Watts said. Proposals include a simple wooden post with room for a plaque.
Jack Karako, southeast regional director of the American Jewish Congress, said he still questions whether the state should be in the business of using taxpayer money to erect highway memorials.
He said, however, that as long as no one has any objection, “certainly a nondenominational marker is something that’s probably a good compromise that will not offend anyone else.”