ADF: American Legion Files Amicus Brief In 9th Cir. Mt. Soledad Case

Posted on July 27, 2006

Update: Go Pundit Go reports suprising but promising and optimistic news:

In a joint press release today, California Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer issued support for the San Diego Mt. Soledad Cross and urged the Senate to pass an upcoming vote which would transfer the land the cross sits on to the federal government, protecting it from further threats of removal by the ACLU.

From ADF Press Release:

Seeking to prevent the removal of the 52-year-old Mount Soledad cross from atop a war memorial, the Alliance Defense Fund, representing The American Legion Department of California, and Liberty Legal Institute, representing the national American Legion, have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

“The cross is universally recognized as a way to honor those who have fallen, both military and civilian members of society,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “Not only did the cross stand unchallenged for 35 years, the citizens of San Diego chose to reaffirm their support for it in a landslide vote last year. It should not to be torn down after more than a half century to satisfy one person’s agenda.”

In 2005, 75 percent of San Diegans voted to preserve the Mount Soledad cross by transferring it from city property to the ownership of the National Park Service.

Earlier this month, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy issued a stay in favor of Mount Soledad supporters, allowing the cross to remain until a final outcome is determined in the ongoing litigation surrounding the cross (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3790). On May 3, a federal district judge had ordered the cross to be removed within 90 days, saying that the city would be subjected to a $5,000 per day fine for every day it continued to stand beyond the deadline.

A copy of the brief filed in Paulson v. City of San Diego can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/Paulson.pdf.

“Clearly, the overwhelming majority of San Diegans both support and welcome the cross,” Theriot said. “Just as thousands of crosses in Arlington Cemetery, including the Argonne Cross, stand on public ground to honor our war dead, so does the cross at Mount Soledad. Despite the best efforts of a lone atheist, nothing is wrong or unconstitutional about allowing the cross to stand for this purpose. Historically, crosses have been used in this country and through out the world to memorialize those who made the ultimate sacrifice for something greater than themselves.”

I mentioned earlier about a bill that passed the House and is still up for vote in the Senate that is seeking for the government to aquire the land under eminent domain in order to preserve the cross and what it stands for. Most sources I have spoke to are optimistic that this will pass. Contact your Congress critter and tell them to save Mt. Soledad. Until then the work goes on tirelessly from great organizations like Thomas More Law Center and the ADF.
Help Save Mt. Soledad Cross. Donate to the ADF
Sign the Petition to Stop Taxpayer Funding of the ACLU.
Contact your Senators and Reps and tell them to support and pass the Public Expression of Religion Act.

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Comments

2 Responses to “ADF: American Legion Files Amicus Brief In 9th Cir. Mt. Soledad Case”

apostle on July 27th, 2006 8:37 pm

Good news indeed. The Cross has always been used in this country, on goverment property, to honor the dead. Just because it offends one or two atheists does not require its removal.
kerwin_brown on July 29th, 2006 4:28 am

It will be a blow for religious freedom if it does pass.