Free Republic

This past week the Thomas More Law Center won the latest round against the ACLU in a twenty year legal battle to remove a large cross which stands atop a National memorial cemetery in San Diego. The ruling judge - Larry Alan Burns - wrote: “The Court finds the memorial at Mt. Soledad, including its Latin cross, communicates the primarily non-religious messages of military service, death and sacrifice. As such, despite its location on public land, the memorial is Constitutional.” Assessing the temporal nature of the victory, Richard Thompson from Thomas More said: Sadly, I fully expect the ACLU attorneys...

The giant cross atop Mount Soledad can stay, a federal judge ruled yesterday. The La Jolla landmark has been the subject of nearly 20 years of litigation, public votes and legislative maneuvers as critics complain it's unconstitutional to have a religious symbol on public land. But yesterday, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said the cross – visible for miles – has become a memorial to veterans, and its secular message outweighs any religious meaning. “The Court finds the memorial at Mt. Soledad, including its Latin cross, communicates the primarily non-religious messages of military service, death, and sacrifice,” Burns wrote. As...

The giant cross atop Mount Soledad can stay, a federal judge ruled yesterday. The La Jolla landmark has been the subject of nearly 20 years of litigation, public votes and legislative maneuvers as critics complain it's unconstitutional to have a religious symbol on public land. But yesterday, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said the cross – visible for miles – has become a memorial to veterans, and its secular message outweighs any religious meaning. “The Court finds the memorial at Mt. Soledad, including its Latin cross, communicates the primarily non-religious messages of military service, death, and sacrifice,” Burns wrote. As...

ANN ARBOR, MI – The California Supreme Court, yesterday, affirmed the precedent-setting decision of a California appellate court, which upheld the right of the people of San Diego to transfer the Mt. Soledad veterans memorial and cross to the federal government. At the same time, the Court denied the ACLU’s attempt to prevent the publication of the lower court decision favorable to the cross and veterans memorial. The ACLU was seeking to have the decision suppressed so that it would not be used against them in future lawsuits.

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. Senate voted by unanimous consent Tuesday to acquire a concrete cross in San Diego and the municipal park around it to protect the embattled monument from being taken down.

SAN DIEGO -- Ronald Reagan had just left office, the Christian Coalition was new, "values" had yet to become a buzzword of American politics and six of the current U.S. Supreme Court justices had other jobs when an atheist sued the city of San Diego for permitting a giant cross in a public park. Seventeen years later, the 29-foot concrete monument still crowns a hill over the Pacific, defended by the city's voters and members of Congress. Now the Supreme Court has stepped in, and the case of the Mount Soledad cross could help determine under what circumstances religious symbols...

Six of the current Supreme Court justices had other jobs when an atheist sued this city for permitting a giant cross in a public park. Ronald Reagan was president, the Christian Coalition was new and "values" had yet to become a buzzword of American politics. Seventeen years of legal wrangling later, the 29-foot monument still crowns a hill over the Pacific - defended by city ballot measures, federal legislation and even one congressman's appeal for presidential intervention. Now the Supreme Court has weighed in, and the case of the Mount Soledad cross may set a precedent on whether the government...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy ordered Friday that his temporary stay protecting the Mount Soledad cross extend until state and federal courts can hear the city of San Diego's appeal this fall. In blocking a federal judge's order that the city remove the cross by Aug. 1 or face a daily fine of $5,000, Kennedy also indicated that the full court may want to review the controversial case. Kennedy said the court, which refused three years ago to get involved in the dispute, may consider it because of two new factors favorable to cross proponents. He cited legislation to...

The city will petition the U.S. Supreme Court in a drive to exhaust every legal avenue before removing a giant concrete cross from public property on Aug. 1, the city attorney said Thursday. The city will ask the high court to review Wednesday's decision by a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel to turn down the city's request to stay a federal court decision against the cross. U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Thompson Jr. found in May that the city was demonstrating an unconstitutional endorsement of one religion over others by maintaining the 29-foot cross in a municipal hilltop...

SAN DIEGO A three-judge federal panel on Wednesday rejected a last-ditch appeal by the city of San Diego to keep a giant cross standing on city property after a 17-year legal tussle. The city is under federal court order to move the 29-foot-tall cross from a La Jolla hilltop before Aug. 2 or face $5,000 daily fines. The failed appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was intended to stay that order and allow the cross to remain standing until appeals currently pending in state courts can be heard. City Attorney Michael Aguirre said that Wednesday's ruling, issued...

San Diego lawyer Jim McElroy insists he isn't terribly bothered by the scathing insults and threats directed his way. A few weeks back, someone wrote him an e-mail telling him to “burn in hell.” Someone else sent a note that opened with the words, “Hey Dumb--- McElroy.” Then there was this message, e-mailed several months ago. “When outraged Americans come and commit justifiable homicide against James McElroy, I'm throwing a party and inviting McElroy's family and friends and co-workers . . . It will be a great festive day!” McElroy has practiced law in San Diego for 19 years, usually...

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has indicated that he would fight hard to save the Mount Soledad cross. He also indicated that “The courts have routinely approved secular monuments that have crosses as an element of the (war memorial) monument.” This is not a true statement. There is not one single federal or California case that has ever approved the permanent placement of a cross on federal land, state land or city land, monument or no monument, war memorial or no war memorial. Quite the contrary, there are 10 c ases that have ruled on the permanent presence of crosses...

Stop the ACLU! The ACLU has done it again. In their campaign to rid our country of every vestige of God and Christianity, they have convinced a federal judge to order the removal of a cross from San Diego’s Mount Soledad memorial to heroes of the Korean War. We must fight back to save this religious symbol from demolition! Please read the form carefully and declare your membership with the ACLJ by signing the Petition below. Petition to Save San Diego’s Mount Soledad Cross President George W. Bush Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego U.S....

Judge threatens fine to enforce '91 ruling By Onell R. Soto UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER May 4, 2006 NELVIN CEPEDA / Union-Tribune The cross was dedicated in 1954 as a war memorial. A federal judge moved to end a 17-year legal saga yesterday by ordering the city of San Diego to remove the Mount Soledad cross from city property within 90 days or be fined $5,000 a day. “It is now time, and perhaps long overdue, for this Court to enforce its initial permanent injunction forbidding the presence of the Mount Soledad Cross on City property,” U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson...

Ruling on a 15-year-old ACLU case, a federal judge today ordered the city of San Diego to remove a mountain-top cross within 90 days or face a fine of $5,000 a day.U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson said, "It is now time, and perhaps long overdue, for this court to enforce its initial permanent injunction forbidding the presence of the Mount Soledad cross on city property," the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Mt. Soledad cross and veterans memorial above San Diego (soledadmemorial.com) Ruling on a 15-year-old ACLU case, a federal judge today ordered the city of San Diego to remove a mountain-top cross within 90 days or face a fine of $5,000 a day. U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson said, "It is now time, and perhaps long overdue, for this court to enforce its initial permanent injunction forbidding the presence of the Mount Soledad cross on city property," the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Thompson ruled in 1991 the Mount Soledad cross violates the so-called "separation of church and state" but the...

federal judge on Wednesday ordered the removal of the Mount Soledad cross from property owned by the city of San Diego within 90 days or he will fine the city $5,000 a day. “It is now time, and perhaps long overdue, for this court to enforce its initial permanent injunction forbidding the presence of the Mount Soledad cross on city property,” said U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson. Thompson first found the presence of the cross on city property unconstitutional in 1991 because it violated the separation of church and state. Since then, his order, and the issue of the cross,...

SAN DIEGO -- A Superior Court judge has ruled that a proposed transfer of the Mount Soledad Cross to the federal government is unconstitutional. Judge Patricia Cowett found Friday that maintenance of the cross is an "unconstitutional preference of religion." Cowett also said transferring ownership of the 43-foot cross and surrounding property to the federal government is an "unconstitutional aid to religion." "The court hereby finds the ordinance placing Proposition A on the ballot and Proposition A unconstitutional, and therefore invalid and unenforceable. Maintenance of this Latin Cross as it is on the property in question, is found to be...

SAN DIEGO - For more than 50 years, the Mount Soledad cross has stood sentry over this city, a 29-foot-tall white landmark that, from its panoramic perch atop one of the tallest hills for miles around, has played host to weddings, baptisms and quiet contemplation. For 16 years, the Mount Soledad cross, now a part of a Korean War veterans memorial, has been a focus of bitter and still unresolved litigation. "This is the most beautiful piece of land in California, if not the country," said Paul Rodriguez, a resident smitten one afternoon by the exhilarating wind-swept views of the...

RANCHO SANTA FE, CA — For sixteen years atheist, Phillip Paulson, claiming he wants to maintain neutrality between government and religion, has been waging an unrelenting war against the Mt. Soledad Cross that is the centerpiece of the historic Veterans Memorial in San Diego. However, Paulson’s comments on the website of the Atheist Coalition of San Diego reveals his true motivation is hatred for Christianity. Paulson goes so far as to state; “We need to attack Jesus…” Those comments, followed by vulgar remarks about Christ, God and the Virgin Mary are so crude and offensive that the Thomas More Law...

Judge halts Mount Soledad cross transfer          By Jennifer Vigil and Karen Kucher UNION-TRIBUNE 12:41 p.m. September 2, 2005 JAMES BAIRD / Union-Tribune As votes were counted in the July 26 special election, the setting sun illuminated the cross on Mount Soledad. SAN DIEGO – A Superior Court judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order barring the city from transferring the Mount Soledad cross to the federal government under the deal voters overwhelmingly approved in San Diego's July special election. Judge Patricia Yim Cowett issued a tentative 34-page ruling in the case, which questioned the constitutionality of Proposition...

...In the election last Tuesday, 76 percent of voters approved the transfer. Despite the vote, the fight isn't over. City Attorney Michael Aguirre told The San Diego Union Tribune that it would be unconstitutional for the city to transfer the cross to the government because it would be done primarily to preserve a religious symbol. Lawsuits are still pending after the November vote, alleging the ballot measure was illegal. If a judge agrees, the whole fight could start over. That could be bad news for the cross display. Some citizens don't want to waste any more resources trying to keep...

With the majority of precincts reporting, San Diegans voted overwhelmingly yesterday to transfer the historic Mount Soledad cross site to the federal government. The site contains a 43-foot concrete cross that has been at the center of the controversy since a 1989 lawsuit. The city-owned land has long been recognized locally as a war memorial. Surrounding the cross are more than 1,600 plaques commemorating military veterans who have participated in the defense of America. By attaching an amendment to a military appropriations bill last November, area congressmen Duncan Hunter and Randy "Duke" Cunningham provided a way where a federal transfer...

SAN DIEGO – A ballot measure to preserve the Mount Soledad cross on public land in La Jolla easily surpassed the two-thirds support it needed for approval Tuesday night. But the voters' decision on Proposition A won't be the final word. The controversy heads back to court next month. Two court dates are scheduled in the next three weeks. A Superior Court judge will examine the ballot measure's constitutionality Aug. 12, and a federal judge will hear cross-related arguments Aug. 15. The proposition calls for the San DiegoCity Council to give the 29-foot cross, a concentric set of granite walls...

A ballot measure to preserve the Mount Soledad cross on public land in La Jolla easily surpassed the two-thirds support it needed for approval Tuesday night. But the voters' decision on Proposition A won't be the final word. The controversy heads back to court next month. Two court dates are scheduled in the next three weeks. A Superior Court judge will examine the ballot measure's constitutionality Aug. 12, and a federal judge will hear cross-related arguments Aug. 15. The proposition calls for the San Diego City Council to give the 29-foot cross, a concentric set of granite walls and the...

San Diegans vote to save cross 75% resist ACLU effort to remove historic structure -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: July 27, 2005 12:44 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Mt. Soledad cross and veterans memorial above San Diego (soledadmemorial.com) After 15 years of adverse court rulings, the citizens of San Diego voted to save the city's historic Mt. Soledad cross.

About 50 people rallied at the Mount Soledad cross yesterday in support of Proposition A, a measure on tomorrow's ballot aimed at preserving the symbol on public land. ... Attorney James McElroy says the transfer would be unconstitutional. He and his client, atheist and veteran Philip Paulson, want the cross moved. On Thursday, a judge said passage of Proposition A required more than a simple majority because the city charter requires two-thirds approval for any change in use of public parkland and Congress cannot guarantee that the memorial would remain in perpetuity. ...

The campaign to keep the Mount Soledad cross in La Jolla suffered a setback yesterday when a judge said a ballot measure aimed at preserving the cross requires two-thirds approval from San Diego voters Tuesday. The higher threshold, coming five days before the special election, casts doubt on the prospects for a measure that previously seemed destined for approval.

SAN DIEGO – A judge ruled Wednesday that a proposal to keep a 43-foot cross atop Mount Soledad by having the city of San Diego donate surrounding land to the federal government may be placed on the July 26 ballot. "This is a proper subject to place before the voters," Judge Patricia Yim Cowett said after listening to oral arguments. The judge asked for further briefing on whether the city was the actual owner of the land and if it was, whether it could donate the property to the federal government. If there was a change in the way the...

A twist in the Mount Soledad cross saga pits the lawyer fighting to move the towering symbol against a fresh foe: Padres broadcaster Jerry Coleman. Coleman wants to sign the ballot argument in support of keeping the cross on its La Jolla hilltop. But attorney Jim McElroy has asked a Superior Court judge to rewrite the argument, which McElroy claims is misleading, and exclude Coleman's signature because he missed a filing deadline by one week. The argument is the latest in a 16-year court battle. On July 26, San Diegans will vote on a successor to Mayor Dick Murphy, who...

Written for Stop The ACLU And Crossposted from there. For the past week we have been voicing our support for HR 2679, the Public Expression of Religion Act (PERA) of 2005. And this is a case that would potentially be effected by it should it already be law. In San Diego, California, there has been a fight over a cross put upon Mount Soledad. Decades ago, private citizens placed the cross on that site to honor Korean War veterans. In 2004, President Bush signed legislation designating the site a 'National War Memorial'. Now, an atheist who travels the road overlooked...

The ACLU, representing an atheist, is threatening five San Diego-area personalities with legal action over the proposed wording of a ballot initiative that will determine the fate of a historic cross on city land. The five behind the Mt. Soledad initiative are KFMB radio talk-show host Rick Roberts; KOGO radio talk-show host Roger Hedgecock; San Diego Padres radio announcer Jerry Coleman, Rep. Randy Cunningham, R-Calif.; and SoledadNational.com Director Phil Thalmeimer. The attorney for atheist Philip Paulson, James McElroy, has told the men he will file the challenge next week. McElroy claims that a number of their statements on the ballot,...

"I have absolutely no intention of backing down" . Rick Roberts The Lawyer for atheist Philip Paulson, James McElroy, has told five San Diego area personalities that he will file a legal challenge next week to the proposed wording of a July 26th City of San Diego ballot initiative. The initiative will determine the fate of the Cross located on City land atop Mt. Soledad in La Jolla, CA.. The personalities includes KFMB radio talk show host Rick Roberts, KOGO radio talk show host Roger Hedgecock, San Diego Padres baseball club announcer Jerry Coleman, Congressman Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham, and SoledadNational.com...

The San Diego City Council voted this week to allow voters to decide the fate of the historic Mt. Soledad Cross overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla. The vote represented the newest chapter in a long line of legal battles to remove the cross, led by ACLU attorney James McElroy, who represents an atheist seeking to remove the Christian symbol from public lands. The legal battles date back to 1989. Essentially, the voters will decide whether they want to transfer the property to the National Park System as a war memorial. For more than 50 years, the site has...

ACLU, atheist in 16-year battle to remove it The San Diego City Council voted this week to allow voters to decide the fate of the historic Mt. Soledad Cross overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla. The vote represented the newest chapter in a long line of legal battles to remove the cross, led by ACLU attorney James McElroy, who represents an atheist seeking to remove the Christian symbol from public lands.

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The City Council has agreed to let voters decide whether to keep a 43-foot-tall wooden cross atop Mount Soledad by donating the land to the federal government. On Tuesday, the council voted 6-3 to place the issue on the July 26 ballot, which also includes a mayoral election. The council rescinded its previous rejection of a plan to donate the land to the National Parks Service for a veterans memorial. That plan had been a key part of a federal bill designed as a last-ditch effort to preserve the cross on public land. Supporters raised more...

Crosses must stand By: RICK REISS - For The Californian Many moviegoers will remember the moving scenes from "Saving Private Ryan" showing the thousands of American graves at the Normandy cemetery. The graves exhibit the sacrifice of the American servicemen who perished on D-Day during World War II. These scenes were filmed at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. The cemetery, along with other cemeteries from North Africa to the Philippines, is operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission. The commission is an independent agency of the executive branch of the federal government. Most of these American headstones resting in...

About 40,000 signatures have been collected to try to force the San Diego City Council to keep the Mount Soledad cross at the site of a war memorial in La Jolla, supporters of a petition drive said yesterday. They need to submit a minimum of 33,610 signatures from registered voters by April 7 to get the council to reconsider its March 8 decision to move the cross to comply with a federal court ruling. The council's other option is to hold a special election on the issue within 88 days. The City Clerk's Office estimated a special election would cost...

The Mount Soledad cross must go, the San Diego City Council said yesterday. The 16-year saga of whether the cross would stay on public land in La Jolla came to an emotional conclusion last night as the council voted 5-3 to reject a last-ditch effort to keep it in place. The vote capped a six-hour public hearing that attracted 350 people, most of them Christians who urged the council to donate the cross and surrounding land to the federal government so it possibly could remain where it has stood since 1954. But the cross now must be moved to comply...

The Mount Soledad cross must go, the San Diego City Council said yesterday. The 16-year saga of whether the cross would stay on public land in La Jolla came to an emotional conclusion last night as the council voted 5-3 to reject a last-ditch effort to keep it in place. The vote capped a six-hour public hearing that attracted 350 people, most of them Christians who urged the council to donate the cross and surrounding land to the federal government so it possibly could remain where it has stood since 1954.

A 43-foot tall cross that was erected atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego, California 50 years ago to honor our Nation’s veterans faces imminent removal unless we act now. An ACLU-backed atheist has waged a 15-year court battle to force removal of the famous cross, and a federal court has ordered the city of San Diego to remove it. One option remains. Federal law known as the Antiquities Act authorizes the President to designate landmarks and structures as national monuments and make the property on which the monument stands federal property. President Clinton used this law to establish numerous new...

The Mount Soledad cross must go, the San Diego City Council said yesterday. The 16-year saga of whether the cross would stay on public land in La Jolla came to an emotional conclusion last night as the council voted 5-3 to reject a last-ditch effort to keep it in place. The vote capped a six-hour public hearing that attracted 350 people, most of them Christians who urged the council to donate the cross and surrounding land to the federal government so it possibly could remain where it has stood since 1954. But the cross now must be moved to comply...

8:10 p.m. March 8, 2005 SAN DIEGO – The San Diego City Council on Tuesday rejected a plan to transfer the property atop Mount Soledad, including its 43-foot-tall cross, to the federal government to be designated a national veterans memorial. The panel voted 5-3 not to transfer the property to the National Parks Service, a last-ditch effort proposed by two San Diego congressmen to stop the removal of the cross from Mount Soledad. Advertisement The cross was ordered moved after federal judges twice declared the sale of the city land to the Mount Soledad Memorial Association unconstitutional because it favored...

RANCHO SANTA FE, CA, November 23, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a surprising turn of events, the United States Congress has joined the fight to keep the 43-foot tall cross atop Mount Soledad in San Diego, California, by designating the land on which it stands and the granite memorial walls surrounding it, a national veterans memorial. The congressional action came as a result of efforts by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that fights for the religious freedom of Christians. San Diego area Congressmen, Reps. Duncan Hunter, R -El Cajon, and...

THE ROGER HEDGECOCK SHOW----KOGO/AM 600 - 3P - 6P (Pacific) THE RADIO MAYOR OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA TODAY ON THE RADIO: ROGER broadcasts live from Mount Soledad to Rally Around the Cross. We need thousands to stand to save the cross on the Mount. ROGER on the radio live from 3p - 6pm and then the Rally program begins. A fantastic light show, inspiring speeches and a community gathering to send the message. LEAVE OUR CROSS ALONE, okay? Of course the boss will not neglect the topics that arise on this last day of campaigning. Candidates invited to...