Judge Overturns Supermajority Vote Favoring Transfer of Memorial Cross to Feds
by James L. Lambert
September 7, 2005
(AgapePress) - The legal battle over a war memorial, a 43-foot cross, and the surrounding land began in 1989 -- and despite an overwhelming vote on a recent ballot measure, the matter is still not settled. Last Friday San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Yim Cowett issued a temporary restraining order that could eventually overturn Proposition A, an initiative approved by 197,125 voters in the city of San Diego. The initiative, passed on July 26 with more than 75 percent of the vote, would have allowed the city to transfer the Mount Soledad site in La Jolla (a suburb of San Diego) to the federal government. Proposition A sanctioned the transfer of the war memorial, a 51-year-old cross, and land to the U.S. Department of the Interior to become a national war memorial. The Mount Soledad cross was constructed at its present site in 1954 to commemorate veterans of the Korean War.
Judge Cowett indicated in her decision that the war memorial and cross, in their present form, represent "an unconstitutional aid to the Christian religion." Her decision reverses the vote of the supermajority of San Diegans who overwhelmingly approved the transfer.
In an exclusive interview with AgapePress, the attorney involved in many of the recent legal battles involving the cross, says the judge displayed a bias even before making the ruling.
"Obviously we were quite disappointed with Judge Cowett's ruling," says Charles LiMandri, West Coast regional director of the Thomas More Law Center. "We believe she telegraphed her hostility towards the cross when she required a two-thirds vote on Prop. A to prevail, and then would not relinquish jurisdiction over the constitutionality issue to the federal court that first retained jurisdiction of that issue."
LiMandri told AgapePress that whatever the city of San Diego does, his group will appeal the decision. He stated that he "expects [the judge] to confirm the tentative ruling," but believes there are at least four potential options for appeal. Without disclosing the legal course of action his group will take, LiMandri said that he is exploring all these options.
Commenting on last Friday's court's decision, LiMandri says Judge Cowett "went so far as to [say that] calling the monument a war memorial is a sham designed to achieve the predominantly sectarian purpose of promoting Christianity as opposed to honoring our fallen veterans."
LiMandri believes the decision "was not balanced, but rather manifested an improper judicial bias against the proper use of the cross as the centerpiece of a well-recognized war memorial." The attorney predicts the case has a good chance of ultimately finding its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to AgapePress, is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House), which can be purchased through the American Family Association. He is a licensed real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website.
