Legal Battle Continues Over Mt. Soledad Cross
by James Lambert
October 7, 2005
(AgapePress) - Attorney Charles LiMandri presented arguments Monday in a San Diego Superior Court to appeal a decision by Judge Patricia Yim Cowett regarding a July city-wide vote that determined the fate of the Mt. Soledad Cross in La Jolla, California. In her August decision, Cowett invalidated the vote of 197,125 San Diegans who wanted to transfer the city land where the Mt. Soledad Cross is located to the federal government. That vote (Proposition A) effectively sanctioned the transfer of the 51-year-old cross, the war memorial, and the land where it stands to the U.S. Department of the Interior to become a national war memorial. The Mt. Soledad Cross was constructed at its present site in 1954 to commemorate veterans of the Korean War. The proposition won by a 76% plurality.
As West Coast Director of the Thomas More Law Center, LiMandri was recently hired by the City to represent its cause, pro-bono, as a Special Deputy City Attorney in the case. LiMandri argued in court on Monday that Cowett's ruling contradicts a past Supreme Court decision that indicates the party in question (the City of San Diego) has to be 'entirely motivated by a purpose to advance religion.'
In his arguments LiMandri stated that 'this court would have to find the entire California Constitution itself to be unconstitutional . That is because the preamble of the California constitution states: ‘We the people of the state of California, grateful to almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure and perpetrate its blessings, do establish this Constitution.''
The lawyer also contends that if Judge Cowett 'is inclined to consider evidence of statements made by individual lawmakers and private citizens to determine the constitutional purpose then the Court should also consider the motives of those seeking to compel the City to remove the cross from the Mt. Soledad Memorial.'
In his Court-submitted brief LiMandri said that 'it is only fair and reasonable for the Court to be apprised of the anti-Christian motives of [the] Plaintiff' (Philip Paulson). Paulson along with attorney James McElroy have been seeking the removal of the historic Cross for over 16 years. McElroy has close ties to the American Civil Liberties Union and serves as director of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
LiMandri's brief provides a quote from Paulson given on May 3, 2005: '[W]e need to make a full attack on Jesus ‘A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord ' Well according to the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ was a bastard and a rape baby. After all, the christian god the father raped the Virgin Mary when she was only 13 years of age, and then the all-knowing and all-powerful god became a dead-beat dad who later set up his own bastard son's execution.'
The brief further notes that 'such hateful statements attacking the most sacred and profoundly held beliefs of a great many people in this county, reveal the Plaintiff's deep hostility towards Christianity.' LiMandri summarizes by saying that this case 'represents a classic example of the tyranny of a tiny minority, whereby those few decidedly anti-Christian and Anti-American purposes are trying to use the courts to promote overt hostility toward religion.'
All sides believe the Judge will not change her July decision that effectively nullified the vote of over 197,000 voters. The decision is expected soon, and once it is finalized, LiMandri is planning further appeals. Ultimately, the Thomas More Center lawyer says he believes the case of the Mt. Soledad cross is headed for the 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.
