Attorney Poised to Exercise All Options to Preserve Mt. Soledad Cross
by Allie Martin
May 15, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A California attorney says a judge's order to remove a cross from a national war memorial in a public park is not the end of the battle.Recently Federal District Judge Gordon Thompson ordered San Diego officials to remove the Mt. Soledad cross within three months or face fines of $5,000 a day. The 29-foot cross has been in place since 1954 and is the centerpiece of a national memorial honoring veterans.
In 1989 an atheist sued the city, claiming the cross violated the so-called "separation of church and state." Two years later, Judge Thompson ruled in the atheist's favor. Since then county officials have waged a legal war to save the cross. Charles LiMandri, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), says the Mt. Soledad saga is far from over.
"The first obvious option is to go in for a stay of his order while the matter is appealed to the 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals," says the TMLC's west coast regional director. And there are other viable legal options, he says -- as well as public support -- that could deter the cross's removal.
"If, in fact, they do try to remove the cross, many people of all different faiths have said they'll rally in support of the cross and block any attempt to remove it," the attorney explains. "This is a very large concrete structure. In fact, the members of the group we're representing, two of them, are the sons of the man who helped build this cross in 1954. He donated the time and effort of his construction company." And the two sons, he adds, helped their father paint the cross when they were young.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders says he will consider appealing the latest ruling. Sanders has stated that the battle is not about a religious symbol, but about preserving a nationally registered war memorial that is part of local history.
Meanwhile, a local U.S. congressman has demonstrated he does not want to wait for the legal system to respond to save the cross. Representative Duncan Hunter has petitioned the White House to take the cross and the surrounding land under eminent domain, arguing such a move would complete the land-transfer initiative that began in late 2004 and was approved by San Diego voters in July 2005.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
