The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a National Park Service policy of asking visitors to avoid walking near Utah's Rainbow Bridge out of respect for American Indian religion.
Justices let stand a lower court ruling that dismissed a 2000 lawsuit charging the policy at the world's largest natural bridge unconstitutionally endorses religion. Two visitors, Evelyn Johnson and Earl DeWaal, had alleged they were forced to leave the area and threatened with arrest several times.
The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last March that Johnson and DeWaal suffered no personal injury and thus lacked standing to file suit. As a result, the court did not consider the merits of whether the policy violated the First Amendment separation of church and state.
Navajos, Hopi and other Indian groups consider Rainbow Bridge a sacred site that should be approached closely only during their traditional religious ceremonies. A prehistoric altar once stood near the arch, but it was destroyed in the 1930s.
The Denver-based Mountain States Legal Foundation originally brought suit in 2000 on behalf of members of the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, who claimed the Park Service was illegally restricting the rights of visitors to the bridge, which is 290 feet high and 275 feet wide.
Society members contended that park rangers went beyond the rule's voluntary nature.
The case is DeWaal v. Alston, 04-367.