Judge rejects plan to preserve cross

San Bernardino Sun ^ | April 13, 2005 | Jessica Keating

[Tailgunner Joe]

A federal judge has rejected a land swap intended to preserve a cross in the Mojave National Preserve, dealing a blow to supporters who hoped to skirt an order to dismantle the memorial to veterans.

In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Timlin declared invalid a plan to transfer the land where the cross stands to the California Veterans Home in Barstow.

Calling the plan "an attempt by the government to evade the permanent injunction' against the display of the cross, Timlin again ordered the removal of the steel-pipe structure that sits on an outcropping known as Sunrise Rock.

The land swap is the government's latest effort to avoid removing the cross, Timlin noted. In his ruling, he outlined legislation approved in 2002 that declared the cross a war monument and forbade the use of federal funds to remove such structures.

"It is evident to the court that the government has engaged in Herculean efforts to preserve the cross on federal land and that the proposed transfer of the subject property can only be viewed as an attempt to keep the cross atop Sunrise Rock,' Timlin wrote.

A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union, the group that originally filed suit to bring down the cross, applauded Timlin's ruling.

"This land transfer is a sham,' Peter Eliasberg, an ACLU attorney, said Wednesday. "I think this judge has got this dead right and it's time for the government to stop.'

Government officials may appeal the judge's decision. A spokesman for cross supporter Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

Lewis championed the land swap, which he proposed after Timlin ruled that displaying a cross on public land violated the First Amendment.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Timlin's ruling in June 2004.

Longtime cross supporter Bill Jackson, who lives at the veterans home in Barstow, said he plans to urge government officials to continue efforts to retain the cross.

"We will keep on until we sanctify that place,' Jackson said.

[madprof98]

"It is evident to the court that the government has engaged in Herculean efforts to preserve the cross on federal land and that the proposed transfer of the subject property can only be viewed as an attempt to keep the cross atop Sunrise Rock,' Timlin wrote.

You fools thought you could save Terri Schiavo, but we judges are going to kill her DEAD, DEAD, DEAD! Cackle, cackle . . .

[Congressman Billybob]

There is a QUICK way to solve this problem and end the anti-constitutional actions of this federal judge. Congress can and should withdraw the federal jurisdiction over cases like this, under Article III.

This has been done several times before. For instance, concerning the Alaska pipeline, about 20 years ago the tree-huggers got a federal court injunction against its future construction. Congress then withdrew the jurisdiction of all federal courts over this subject.

When the tree-huggers asked the trial court to enforce its order, which had already been entered, the court said no. It recognized that with jurisdiction gone, it could do NOTHING more. Exactly the same logic applies to the cross and court orders against it, in this case.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, "Billybob's Speech for FR's March for Justice II"

[stm]

"A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union, the group that originally filed suit to bring down the cross, applauded Timlin's ruling"

As if anyone needed further proof of the ACLU's athiestic agendas

[wk4bush2004]

And if someone put up a Star of David or a Moon and Star, no one would pitch a fit about that. These liberals are so contradictory!

[Texas_Jarhead]

The opponents want it destroyed no matter whose land it is on.

[Little_shoe]

Too True... Maybe Mel Gibson should take some of the money from the Passion and use it to buy the land this cross is on. Since a private owner could tell them to go somewhere else.

Stuff like this makes me ashamed to be an American. Our country was founded on freedom of religion, not freedom FROM religion.

[Just A Nobody]

...an ACLU attorney, said Wednesday. "I think this judge has got this dead right and it's time for the government to stop."

We are either a Judicial Oligarchy ruled by judicial tyranny -----

OR...the ACLU is controlling this country with the assistance of rogue judges.

I am confused.

[NormsRevenge]

http://www.press-enterprise.com/newsarchive/2001/05/29/991108331.html

Just a judge who sees 'a lot of human nature'
Despite being a U.S. District Court judge in Riverside, Robert J. Timlin is "still a Corona guy."

-----

excerpt....

Once an active Democrat, Timlin has put aside partisan politics to win respect from leaders of both parties. He was appointed a Superior Court judge by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in 1980. He was named to the state Court of Appeals in 1990 by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian.

President Bill Clinton named Timlin to the federal judiciary in 1994.

[muawiyah]

It's much better to eliminate the ACLU and that particular court than to remove the cross from that site.

[goldstategop]

More judicial tyranny. Our krytocrats have a bee in their bonnet about Christianity. It terrifies them as much as it does the ACLU. No wonder they need to banish the dreaded cross from the American landscape.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)