LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A Las Cruces man has been handed another defeat in his fight to rid public institutions of what he claims are religious symbols.

U.S. District Judge Robert Brack ruled Dec. 7 in Weinbaum v. Las Cruces Public Schools that a lawsuit filed by Paul Weinbaum against the Las Cruces school district was without merit.

Weinbaum sued the school district in 2003, alleging its use of three crosses in its logos and on school grounds violates the First Amendment by using public funds to promote religion. Weinbaum had requested that the logos be removed.

Las Cruces is Spanish for “the crosses.”

The lawsuit took issue with crosses used on school district vehicles, buildings, artwork and the district’s policy on religion.

The case went to trial Nov. 27.

Brack ruled before trial that the school’s religion policy and a sculpture at the Field of Dreams athletic complex were constitutional.

That left only two counts to be resolved — the use of crosses on school maintenance vehicles and on an elementary school mural.

Brack ruled that those crosses symbolically represent Las Cruces and are not an endorsement of Christianity.

Weinbaum said he plans to appeal the judge’s decision.

Weinbaum sued the city of Las Cruces in 2005 on similar grounds. Brack dismissed that case last month. Weinbaum and co-plaintiff Martin Boyd on Dec. 6 appealed Brack’s dismissal of that case to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.