In 2013, "U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts concluded...that the 17-foot-high cross, which became a spiritual symbol for workers at ground zero, does not amount to an endorsement of Christianity." Joseph Daniels, the President and CEO of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation, welcomed the court decision to continue the display of the cross, stating it "is in fact a crucial part of the 9/11 Memorial Museum's mission." Furthermore, Mark Alcott, the lawyer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation, which fought the court case against the American Atheists, stated that "The museum is gratified by the decision."