Posted on 07/03/2006 11:36:51 AM PDT by Pukin Dog
Edited on 07/03/2006 12:00:01 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court intervened Monday to save a large cross on city property in southern California.
A lower court judge had ordered the city of San Diego to remove the cross or be fined $5,000 a day.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, acting for the high court, issued a stay while supporters of the cross continue their legal fight.
Lawyers for San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial said in an appeal that they wanted to avoid the "destruction of this national treasure." And attorneys for the city said the cross was part of a broader memorial that was important to the community.
The 29-foot cross, on San Diego property, sits atop Mount Soledad. A judge declared it was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
The cross, which has been in place for decades, was contested by Philip Paulson, a Vietnam veteran and atheist.
Three years ago, the Supreme Court had refused to get involved in the long-running dispute between Paulson and the city.
Kennedy granted the stay to the city and the cross' supporters without comment pending a further order from him or the entire court.
The cross was dedicated in 1954 as a memorial to Korean War veterans, and a private association maintains a veterans memorial on the land surrounding it.
Mayor Jerry Sanders has argued that the cross, sitting atop Mt. Soledad in La Jolla, is an integral part of the memorial and deserves the same exemptions to government-maintained religious symbols as those granted to other war monuments.
In May, U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Thompson, Jr., ordered the city to take down the 29-foot cross before Aug. 2 or pay daily fines of $5,000.
Thompson's ruling, which he described as "long overdue," found the cross to be an unconstitutional display of government preference of one religion over another.
Last year, San Diego voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot proposition to transfer the land beneath the cross to the federal government. The measure was designed to absolve the city of responsibility for the cross under the existing lawsuit. But a California Superior Court judge found the proposition to be unconstitutional.
From the Thomas More Law Center
Supreme Court Asked To Stay Lower Court Order To Remove the Mt. Soledad Cross
Thu, Jun 29, 2006
ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center, this morning, filed an emergency application in the U.S. Supreme Court asking Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy to stay a lower federal court decision that orders the City of San Diego to remove the Mt. Soledad Cross by August 1st or face fines of $5,000 a day thereafter. The City has indicated that unless the legal situation changes, it will comply with the lower court order to remove the cross and will begin plans to implement that order beginning in the first week of July. The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed the emergency application for stay on behalf of San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial, the organization that spearheaded the highly successful referendary petition drive that resulted in the City Council repealing its March 8, 2005 vote not to transfer the memorial property to the federal government.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for the Law Center commented, “The legislative actions of area Congressmen and the grass roots efforts of San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial have kept the cross atop Mt. Soledad. We are now, however, at a critical stage, and time is running out.”
The Law Center’s emergency application explained that this case presents a serious question regarding the place of religious symbols in the public life of our nation.
The Law Center argued, “Removing the memorial cross, which has been displayed continuously in its present location since 1954, would destroy the integrity of the Veterans Memorial, undermine the state court proceeding, and cause irreparable harm to Applicant, the citizens of San Diego, and the many family members, friends, and comrades of the nearly two thousand veterans who are honored by this memorial for their sacrificial service to this country. It would be a national tragedy to tear down the memorial cross, which is scheduled to occur on or before August 1, 2006, absent a stay.”
Charles LiMandri, the West Coast Regional Director for the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “The Mt. Soledad Cross and Memorial represents the sacrifices our veterans and their families have made and the gratitude that we, as a community and a nation, have for them. They fought hard for our freedoms. We will fight hard to preserve them.”
In addition to the emergency application to the Supreme Court, the Law Center is also involved in appeals to the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the California Court of Appeals, to save the cross.
On Monday evening U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter introduced House Bill 5683, which mandates the federal government take over the memorial and transfer it to the Defense department. Representative Darrell Issa and newly elected Representative Brian Bilbray are co-sponsors of that legislation. However, it will be a difficult undertaking to move the bill through both the House of Representatives and the Senate for signature of the President before the August 1st deadline.
In addition to the numerous legal steps the Law Center is taking to prevent removal of the memorial cross by August 1st, the Law Center is also asking all Americans to join in the effort to urge President Bush to immediately use the federal powers of eminent domain to take the land on which the cross and memorial sit by signing a petition to the President contained on its website at: www.thomasmore.org.
Explained Thompson, “Our legal team is pursuing every possible legal option to save the Mt. Soledad Cross, including an appeal to President Bush and Congress to take the land under the federal powers of eminent domain. Our veterans deserve it.”
"I thought only Communist or Islamic regimes tore down the religious symbols of other faiths?"
Correcto mundo pal....our own brand of leftist commies are at in here in the USA doing the filthy deeds they do.
The DUmmies are ready to hitch a tow-truck to it and pull it down.
I think that the Ninth Circuit is set to hear the appeal en banc sometime in early October. Thus, this stay provides some breathing room to the City.
On Kennedy: I suspect and hope that he'll gradually become a more conservative judge with Alito and Roberts on the court. He seems to be the kind of guy who generally goes with the crowd, which he thinks makes him look good. With the 4 libs + equally mushy O'Connor + the liberal in-crowd of Washington, he usually drifted down the leftist stream with them. However, with 4 conservatives and 4 liberals on either side of him, he now sees himself (correctly, I'm afraid) as the true swing vote. He wants to keep that status, so he has to vote conservative at least 40% of the time. Otherwise, he'd just be another court liberal and lose his swing vote status. Also, the combined tidal force of Alito, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas may be enough to pull him towards a conservative point of view on many issues.
This is why replacing a coservative with a liberal or visa-versa does more than just change one vote; it can affect the entire makeup of the court.
Removing the cross would be like the Taliban blowing up statues of Buddha. The American Taliban are Leftists who hate American values. After Soledad, they will try to remove crosses from headstones at Arlington National Cemetary.
Next Supreme Court Judge: Janice Rogers Brown!!!I second that motion. Pray, pray, pray.
Amazing! This is stunning and welcome news.
Look, something has to be done about the dirty atheists and I want to help. I will pledge a bar of soap and a container of purell.
Let's hope this isn't just a "tease" by the SCOTUS...and have them come back and uphold the lower court's decision.
Excellent observation!
That's the way I read this too.
Kennedy knows he went too far with Hamdan and is trying to pander to the "ignorant masses" with what he thinks is a nothing case.
It should be a requirement of every job in our Federal Government, including all judges, elected representatives and bureaucrats, that they travel the country during their frequent "recesses" and hold public meetings open to all citizens.
It might open their eyes.
Three years ago I don't think the cross was a National War Memorial as now declared by congressional action and the president's signature. There's also been a local election where over 70% voted to transfer the cross to the Fed's. The issues before the court in this case are not the same as they were then and, as you point out, the court itself has changed in membership.
Ok where did my return go before 1)
How in the heck can that be unconstitutional? The City of San Diego owns the land on which the cross sits. The people of San Diego ARE the city. If they want to transfer the land to the federal government, assuming the feds agree to take it, then where the heck does this judge get off intervening, let alone declaring a transfer of property rights unconstitutional?
Believe me, I want to use language far stronger than heck.
After Soledad, they will try to remove crosses from headstones at Arlington National Cemetary.
$$$$
And they will be able to cite "precedent" of the removal of the Sculpture at Mt Soledad for removing the headstones at Arlington.
I say they are exerting their religion of God-less-ness, also known as a-theism, in seeking to erase every symbol of Christianity from any place in America where a lawsuit can be attached.
Our Bill of Rights expressly forbids the Establishment of a State Religion, and that includes Atheism.
Good one here.
I bet Roger Hedgecock is pleased....he always talks about this case when he sits in for Rush....
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