Posted on 06/05/2004 11:18:58 AM PDT by bboop
ANN ARBOR, MI - The West Coast regional office of the Thomas More Law Center, a national, public-interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a lawsuit today in federal district court in California, seeking to prevent Los Angeles County officials from removing the cross from the County's official seal. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Mr. Ernesto Vasquez, a County employee, who objects to the removal of the cross because it sends a government-sponsored message of hostility towards Christians in violation of the United States Constitution. Attorney Charles LiMandri, director of the Law Center's West Coast regional office in San Diego, commented, "California has become a battleground for anti-Christian forces. Whether it be same-sex marriage, the removal of 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance, or now the removal of a small cross from the LA County seal, the impact is the same: the de-Christianizing of our society. The Thomas More Law Center is committed to fighting this battle here in California through its regional office and throughout the country."
On June 1, 2004, LA County supervisors caved in to a demand made by the ACLU, which threatened to sue the County if it did not remove the cross. As a result of the ACLU threat, LA County decided to remove the cross and offend Christians rather than fight the ACLU. According to the lawsuit, LA County's actions have "conveyed an impermissible state-sponsored message of disapproval of and hostility toward Christianity in violation of the Establishment Clause." Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the LA County, the LA County Board of Supervisors, and the five County supervisors.
Robert Muise, associate counsel with the Law Center handling the case, commented, "LA County now has a choice to make: offend the ACLU and keep the cross or defend their unconstitutional policy of discrimination against Christians in federal court. The County supervisors were sadly mistaken if they believed that Christians would just roll over and let the County treat them as second-class citizens."
According to Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center, "The ACLU has a plan to systematically remove Christianity from the public square. As this lawsuit shows, the Thomas More Law Center is committed to stopping the ACLU and those who cooperate with their anti-Christian agenda."
I wonder if Thomas More mentioned in their suit that the County is leaving in the seal the Roman goddess Pomona, which is many times larger than the cross...
Sounds like the Thomas More law center is worthy of a donation from me.
Good deal. Sauce for the goose . . .
I think they would be better off going after the "goddess" Pamona and the ACLU hypocrisy about that.
As far as the state is concerned, a cross is just a geometric symbol ~ NOT an authentic religious symbol! I'd think they couldn't even discuss the subject as part of official business.
(There's a fish on there too ~ the ignoramouses at the ACLU didn't understand that significance ~ don't tell them.)
The small cross is just the beginning. Next will be the name changes - can't have cities named for saints or angels. They will probably recommend Muslim names.
San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan Capistrano, Los Angeles.
Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list
well if the county was serious about saving money in a lawsuit against the aclu then they should be just as serious about saving money against the thomase moore institute.
Me too.
Bravo!
It all seems rather silly to me, considering the name. Maybe next they'll change it to Los Ateos.
I was going to laugh at this comment, but then I stopped and realized you are probably correct. How frightening is this country these days.
Any idiot could have seen they were going to get sued no matter what.
Tuesday should be interesting. I called the 3 idiot supervisors offices yesterday. The said there had been a lot of "interest" in the issue(I'll bet there has) LOL!
Re; goddesses the ACLU doesn't object to pagan dieties, they conform to their own pagan belief system.
After all they would race to the courthouse to defend SATAN if we could just arrest him.LOL!
PS. To be clear, I mean it seems silly to remove that harmless little cross considering it's the City of Angels.
The cow could be related to the Hindu religion, could it not?
The Thomas More Center is a powerful cadre of committed conservatives. Their efforts are well worth a donation.
Nice observation...
While the U.S. gub'mint is at it, they'll now have to audit and delete 99% of the language, symbols and seals ever designed.
They are trying to get Las Cruces N.M. to change its name for that very reason.
How long will it be before they demand that churches remove a religeous symbols "visible" to the public. The may offend someone if they are in plain sight from public property.
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