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January 14, 2011
Three Republicans introduce bill in Congress to save cross atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego
Topics: Political News and commentaries
From the L.A. Times:
Three Republican members of Congress from San Diego County have introduced a bill aimed at blocking the removal of the cross atop public land on Mt. Soledad in San Diego.Read more ...The bill submitted by Reps. Duncan D. Hunter of Alpine, Darrell Issa of Vista and Brian Bilbray of Solana Beach comes in reaction to a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week that the 43-foot-tall cross violated the constitutional separation of church and state by seeming to endorse a particular religion.
The bill would allow religious symbols that are part of military monuments.
The cross was built in the 1950s as a war memorial. In more recent years some 2,700 black granite plaques engraved with names and photos of war veterans have been installed on walls at the base of the cross.
Just a few days ago the very liberal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined, in their infinite wisdom, that the cross is is an unconstitutional sign of government favoring religion.
But "Unconstitutional"? Hmmm ... the cross has been there since April 18, 1954. That's nearly 57 years ago. And wasn't there a decision back in 2007 from the California state Supreme Court that let stand an appellate court ruling that the decision by city voters to turn over to the federal government land on which the cross is located was proper?
The case to remove the cross originally was brought on behalf of an atheist, Phillip Paulsen, who died in 2006. The dispute began in 1989, and at one point the arguments included an order for San Diego to take the cross down. But in 1998 the city sold the property to the Mt. Soledad War Memorial Association, which again was challenged in court. The sale originally was upheld but later ruled unconstitutional by the full panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and remanded back to district court to work out a remedy.This case is definitely headed to the Supreme Court, where hopefully clearer heads will prevail.Then Proposition A, passed by 76 percent of the voters in July 2005, called for the city to donate the cross to the federal government as the centerpiece of the veterans memorial.
Posted by Richard at January 14, 2011 1:22 PM
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- Three Republicans introduce bill in Congress to save cross atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego - Jan 14, 2011
