Pray for the Cross

Another shocking story from CNA:


San Diego, Calif., Apr 3, 2009 / 04:50 am (CNA).- Arguing that removing the memorial would cause “real, irreparable harm” to war heroes and their families, the Thomas More Law Center has filed a brief opposing a legal challenge to the constitutionality of California’s historic Mt. Soledad cross which honors veterans of the U.S. armed forces.

Over 2,100 plaques honoring individuals or groups of veterans are displayed near the Mt. Soledad cross, which is the centerpiece of the veterans’ memorial. Some of the plaques display Stars of David in honor of Jewish veterans. A large American flag flies at the memorial’s base.

In 2004 the cross was scheduled to be taken down following an agreement between the City of San Diego and an atheist who sought to remove the memorial. The Law Center then began its legal defense of the cross, prevailing in state and federal courts. It successfully petitioned the federal government to transfer the property from city to federal property, rendering powerless the district court’s order to remove the cross.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) then filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the cross and the propriety of the property transfer. That suit was dismissed by a federal district court judge in July 2008. The ACLU is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where federal government lawyers will defend the constitutionality of the cross. According to a press release from the Law Center, it has filed an amicus curiae brief in the memorial’s defense.

Robert Muise, the Thomas More Law Center attorney and former Marine officer who authored the brief, said the amicus brief demonstrates that tearing down the cross will cause “real, irreparable harm to our war heroes and their grieving families, as compared with the contrived ‘harm’ the ACLU will ‘feel’ because the memorial cross remains.”