ACLU of Ohio v. City of Stow 29 F.Supp. 845 (1998)

In an important case addressing the separation between church and state, the ACLU of Ohio and attorneys Dean Carro and Robert Armbruster wrote a letter to the Law Director of the City of Stow expressing concerns over the inclusion of a cross in the city seal. The Stow City Council then elected to retire the seal, but citizens voted to reinstate the seal through a referendum on the ballot. In response, the city of Stow sought a judgment by the Summit County Common Pleas Court on the constitutionality of the seal, and the ACLU of Ohio filed a suit in federal court. When settlement conferences failed, Judge Dan Aaron Polster called for the removal of the seal, ruling that its use of the cross was unconstitutional.