Our state's roadside descansos are safe — for now, anyway: That was the word last week from Attorney General Gary King, who's sat in on a federal appellate-court case involving crosses along public roads in another state, and we'd guess that most New Mexicans will take comfort in the outcome:

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit issued a ruling that Utah, where there are more than a dozen 12-foot-high crosses honoring highway patrolmen who've died in the line of duty, is crosswise of the constitutional separation of church and state.

A group called American Atheists Inc. had sued our neighboring state, saying the crosses amounted to an endorsement of Christianity. The atheists came armed with a Supreme Court ruling against a cross out in the Mojave Desert of California — a decision rendered moot by a land swap turning that cross's site into private property like the Santa Fe land where the Cross of the Martyrs stands over downtown.

A three-judge appellate panel agreed with the plaintiffs in the Utah case: a "reasonable observer," they said, might wonder if Christians get preferential treatment from state troopers there.

The atheists assured King that they won't be swooping into New Mexico trying to eliminate the hundreds of crosses on our roadsides. For starters, they note that the descansos — as in descanse en paz; rest in peace — tend to be private memorials put up by families and friends of those who've died in traffic accidents. As a roadside tradition, they go back at least to the early 18th century.

They tend to be considerably smaller than the Utah monuments — and they're neither state-sponsored nor state-built and -maintained. Thus the distinction between our descansos and the Utah symbols.

In 2007, our state Legislature passed and Gov. Bill Richardson signed a law against desecrating descansos. Highway crews are not required to preserve the memorials — but by custom, they work around them during construction projects.

There's an implied agreement not to overdo the descansos, which, from time to time, some mourners have exceeded; but mostly the tradition is respected — and can serve to remind motorists to ease off the gas.

Our attorney general nonetheless sees the potential challenge in the atheists' case, so he kept a close watch over the oral arguments in the Utah case.

Coming as he does from a state whose capital is the city of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi, and where another leading city's name is The Crosses, King recognizes New Mexico's constitutional ironies — but we're not alone: Some of California's leading cities are named after The Angels, St. Francis and St. Joseph. And every so often someone goes to court over names and symbols.

When they do, some sharp lawyers come up with defenses based on historical and cultural heritage. Then comes the "reasonable person" standard: Would a reasonable person find this or that religious reference as evidence of a state religion?

When it comes to descansos, it appears that reasonable folks find them inoffensive enough — or comforting enough — to let them stand.