University of Montana students visit Big Mountain Jesus in 2011. Federal appeals court justices are hearing arguments that the 6-foot-tall statue needs to come down. (AP file photo)

The home for a 6-foot statue known as Big Mountain Jesus rests with a three-judge appeals panel after a lawyer representing a group of atheists asked for it to be removed from U.S. Forest Service property in Montana. A federal district judge in 2013 said the Flathead National Forest could reissue a 10-year permit for the statue that has stood at the Whitefish Mountain Resort since 1954. The judge, Obama appointee Dana Christensen, said no reasonable observer would conclude the Forest Service was endorsing Christianity by permitting a private party to place it on land it leases from the government. Hoping to get the decision reversed, attorney Rich Bolton told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel Tuesday that the statue violates the constitutional prohibition on Congress making any law regarding an establishment of religion/Associated Press. More here.

Question: You be the judge. How would you rule in this case?