Attorney Sees Tide Turning in Battle to Save Mt. Soledad Cross
by Allie Martin
August 14, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Today President George W. Bush is scheduled to sign a bill intended to protect San Diego's Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial and its embattled cross. The legislation, unanimously approved by the Senate earlier this month and passed in a 349-74 House vote last month, now clears the way for the memorial's transfer of ownership to the federal government. The 29-foot cross that is the centerpiece of the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial has been the target of church-state separationists for years. Particularly, the religious symbol has been the central figure in a 17-year legal challenge which began with a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of an atheist who feels the veterans memorial should not be located on public property.
Charles LiMandri is with the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that has been fighting to save the cross and memorial since 2004. He says President Bush's signing of the bill today will effectively nullify a recent court order directing the City of San Diego to remove the cross or else face hefty fines.
"The tide is definitely in our favor," LiMandri asserts. "The existing injunction that was issued should be rendered moot by this new legislation," he says, "and the federal law that is now applicable is definitely more favorable to us."
Also, the attorney points out, "The Justice Department has more resources than the City of San Diego." In other words, compared to the California city, the federal government has deeper coffers and is "in a better position to fight this on behalf of the United States," he explains. But despite the overwhelming support of Congress for the transfer legislation, he and other Thomas More Law Center attorneys fully expect the ACLU to continue its efforts, both in the federal courts and in the California courts, to have the cross removed.
Still, LiMandri says today's signing of the bill to save the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial is a milestone that will be an important legal factor in the continuing court battle over the monument's constitutionality. "And since it now is a case that's going to be decided under federal law, and since there's an act of Congress to back it up, we think there's a very good chance the Supreme Court will take this case," he observes.
"If and when the case gets to the United States Supreme Court, we're very confident we have the votes that we need there to ultimately prevail," the Thomas More Law Center spokesman notes. He says he and other supporters of the Mount Soledad cross are hoping the high court will take up the matter and finally "issue a decision that will be beneficial to all of us who do believe that it's appropriate to honor veterans by using religious symbols such as the cross."
President Bush has invited LiMandri, who spearheaded the legal fight to save the cross, to be present at the White House bill signing ceremony. Richard Thompson, Thomas More Law Center's president and chief counsel, called the invitation a credit to LiMandri's "hard work and dedication" to preserving the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial for future generations.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
