Following a two-year long legal battle with one Las Cruces resident, the City is fighting back.
In 2005, area man Paul Pain-In-The-Ass (PITA) took offense to the use of crosses in the City's logo, as well as the City's name, and filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself to have these items changed to more politically-correct representations for the municipality.
The City's logo, sporting three crosses representing a group of settlers who perished under attack by the Apache Indians in the mid-1800s, includes the tagline "People Helping People." The incident was so monumental to early pioneers they decided to name the city Las Cruces, Spanish for "the crosses".
Despite the historical origin of the symbols and name, PITA, a devout Christian, stated the use of religious connotations on government signs and letterhead was unconstitutional and must be removed.
PITA took his fight all the way to the Supreme Court and won his battle, to the dismay of 89,720 fellow residents who really didn't care and appreciated the historical significance of the name.
As PITA wasn't prepared with a replacement name and logo, the court offerred some suggestions including Northwest El Paso, Truth or Lies, and the play-on-words "Lost Causes".
Proposed politically-correct City logo
"I'm glad I won - I'm doing this for everyone," explains PITA. "I want to keep the historical value of our beautiful valley, but without ramming Christianity down everyone's throat. God bless."
The City's mayor, Haruki Murakami, has filed a countersuit to stand up for the Spanish Catholic influence of the region.
"If he don't like our name, why don't he just move?" said Murakami. "Y tambien, I support his right to sue us, and I support my right to sue him back. I'm here for people, helping people."
To date, PITA's lawsuits have cost the City over $800,000 in legal fees and wasted time. It's been reported that local militias have formed to survey PITA's home and toilet-paper it nightly until he finally just moves away.
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