Free Republic

Philip Kevin Paulson, a Lutheran preacher's grandson who lost his religion and waged a 17-year legal battle to remove the Mount Soledad cross from public property, died yesterday of liver cancer. He was 59. HOWARD LIPIN / Union-Tribune Mount Soledad cross foe Philip Paulson (left) attended a luncheon in his honor Sept. 3. Mr. Paulson, a 6-foot-5 Vietnam War veteran who lived in City Heights, became one of the county's most reviled residents when he prevailed in a lawsuit against the city of San Diego and continued with years of appeals that still are pending. On July 31, doctors told...

SAN DIEGO - Philip Paulson, an atheist who waged a 17-year legal battle to have a giant cross removed from public land on Mount Soledad, has died. He was 59. Paulson died Wednesday of liver cancer. He was diagnosed in July and was hospitalized on Oct. 20 after complaining of abdominal pain, remaining in critical condition until his death, said Lorelei Lindsey, his companion of 17 years. Born in Clayton, Wis., Paulson was the grandson of a Lutheran minister but said he lost his faith during two bloody tours of duty in Vietnam. The City Heights resident sued the city...

SAN DIEGO – Three local congressmen have introduced a bill that would transfer the Mount Soledad cross from city control to the federal government, a step they hope will preserve the La Jolla landmark. Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, Brian Bilbray, R-Carlsbad and Darrell Issa, R-Vista, sponsored the bill, which Hunter introduced late Monday. The city has been ordered by the court to remove the 29-foot cross from city property by Aug. 1 or pay a fine of $5,000 a day. A judge has ruled it is an unconstitutional preference of religion for the cross to be displayed on public property....

As part of its massive omnibus spending bill, Congress has acted to designate a disputed area in San Diego, Calif., as a national veterans memorial, a move that helps those hoping to save a 43-foot tall cross that has stood for 50 years. The Thomas More Law Center, a law firm that has been involved in the fight to save the cross, announced yesterday that Reps. Duncan Hunter and Randy "Duke" Cunningham, both Republicans representing districts near San Diego, inserted the memorial designation in the spending bill, which passed both houses of Congress on Saturday and is expected to signed...