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Supreme Court rules Mojave Desert Cross can stay
cna ^ | April 28, 2010

Posted on 04/28/2010 1:09:57 PM PDT by NYer

The Mojave Desert Cross Memorial.

.- The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a federal court overstepped its boundaries in ordering the removal of a long-standing memorial cross in California's Mojave Desert.

A white, seven-foot cross, which was erected as a memorial by the Veterans of Foreign Wars over 75 years ago in the Mojave National Preserve, will be allowed to stay.

Before today's ruling, the cross was covered with a plywood box in accordance with a lower court’s order. A district court initially ruled that the cross had to be removed from the land.

Congress then enacted legislation ordering the Department of the Interior to transfer an acre of land which included the cross to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. A former National Park Service employee, Frank Buono, sued to have the cross removed or covered after the agency refused to allow the erection of a Buddhist memorial nearby.

Supreme Court justices told the federal judges on Wednesday that they did not take sufficient notice of the government's decision to transfer the land to private ownership, and that they went too far in ordering the removal of a congressionally endorsed war memorial.

The Supreme Court ruling was 5-4, with the more conservative justices being in the majority.

Justice Paul Stevens, who was one of the four justices who opposed the memorial, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that although he believed fallen soldiers deserve a memorial, in his opinion the government “cannot lawfully do so by continued endorsement of a starkly sectarian message.”

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who supported the ruling, countered Justice Stevens, saying that “Here one Latin cross in the desert evokes far more than religion.”

Speaking on the wider implications of the memorial, Justice Kennedy stated that it also “evokes thousands of small crosses in foreign fields marking the graves of Americans who fell in battles, battles whose tragedies are compounded if the fallen are forgotten.”

In an interview with CNA last October, Congressman Randy Forbes (R-Va.) echoed the sentiments of Justice Kennedy, saying that the “ripple effect” from today's ruling, were it opposed to the memorial, would have been “enormous.” The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed an amicus curiae brief in the case, praised the ruling. “The Court’s ruling is simple common sense: Americans can say what they want about religion on their own property—even if others disagree,” said Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director of the Becket Fund. “A cross on private property does not establish a state religion.”
 
Rassbach explained that the case has broad implications for the display of religious symbols around the country. “Stripping this country of religious references would turn national monuments like Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial into Swiss cheese. The First Amendment guarantees the right to speak and believe freely; it does not give busybodies the right to cut down religious symbols they don’t like.”



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: mojave; scotus

1 posted on 04/28/2010 1:09:58 PM PDT by NYer
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To: netmilsmom; thefrankbaum; markomalley; Tax-chick; GregB; saradippity; Berlin_Freeper; Litany; ...
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list


2 posted on 04/28/2010 1:10:21 PM PDT by NYer ("Where Peter is, there is the Church." - St. Ambrose of Milan)
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To: NYer

Any bets on how long it will be before some “tolerant” leftist vandalizes this memorial?


3 posted on 04/28/2010 1:13:18 PM PDT by WayneS (Respect the 2nd Amendment; Repeal the 16th)
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To: WayneS

Days. Then they will go to court to prevent it being repaired/replaced.


4 posted on 04/28/2010 1:14:37 PM PDT by theDentist (fybo; qwerty ergo typo : i type, therefore i misspelll)
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To: NYer

Another 5-4 ruling. This country is divided beyond repair.


5 posted on 04/28/2010 1:23:03 PM PDT by Clock King (There's no way to fix D.C.)
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To: NYer
Before ACLU

After ACLU

After ACLU loses


6 posted on 04/28/2010 1:29:37 PM PDT by gunsequalfreedom
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To: Clock King
Another 5-4 ruling. This country is divided beyond repair.

The Court was more divided than that. 3 Justices upheld the memorial against the Establishment Clause challenge, 2 Justices ruled that the ACLU's puppet didn't have standing and 4 Justices ruled the puppet had standing and that the memorial was Unconstitutional.

We won, because the groups of 3 and 2 formed a majority for the ACLU, and its puppet, losing.

7 posted on 04/28/2010 1:41:09 PM PDT by Repeal 16-17 (Let me know when the Shooting starts.)
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To: NYer
Justice Paul Stevens, who was one of the four justices who opposed the memorial, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that although he believed fallen soldiers deserve a memorial, in his opinion the government “cannot lawfully do so by continued endorsement of a starkly sectarian message.

I know yer an old coot, Stevens, but to maintain your high ideals you'd better head over to Arlington National Cemetery and start pulling up all the headstones!

8 posted on 04/28/2010 1:47:50 PM PDT by relictele
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To: NYer

It is interesting that neither Drudge or Spirit Daily list this story with their headlines.


9 posted on 04/28/2010 2:20:12 PM PDT by ardara
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To: NYer

Thank you God!


10 posted on 04/28/2010 2:38:56 PM PDT by GloriaJane (Pro-Choice = Pro-Death........ Pro-Life = Pro-LIFE!)
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To: NYer

Nice.


11 posted on 04/28/2010 2:49:38 PM PDT by reagandemocrat
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To: NYer
Thanks be to God! and to the few Supreme Court Justices that have respect for Him and His People.

(Why isn't this in breaking news?)

12 posted on 04/28/2010 3:22:56 PM PDT by 1_Of_We
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To: relictele

I think Justice Stevens will learn about REAL justice soon enough. It will be “starkly sectarian” in that the Divine Ruler won’t be worried about either the ACLU or Justice Steven’s feelings...


13 posted on 04/28/2010 3:41:52 PM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: NYer
A white, seven-foot cross, which was erected as a memorial by the Veterans of Foreign Wars over 75 years ago in the Mojave National Preserve, will be allowed to stay.

The Cross has been there for 75 years and the Preserve was established in 1994. The cross was not erected in the Mojave National Preserve; the Mojave National Preserve was built around the cross.

14 posted on 04/28/2010 6:06:57 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (Moral Hazard to Follow)
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To: WayneS

“Any bets on how long it will be before some “tolerant” leftist vandalizes this memorial?”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2511217/posts


15 posted on 05/11/2010 3:35:19 PM PDT by DaveTesla (You can fool some of the people some of the time......)
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