Federal Appeals Court Gets it Right: Cross in Mt. Soledad War Memorial to Stay in Place

Sanity Prevails in Attack on War Memorial

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2007—Following a series of legal attacks on a beloved war memorial, a federal appeals court has dismissed as moot a case against the City of San Diego challenging the Mt. Soledad cross. The court ruled the case is moot because the federal government now owns the land on which the memorial sits. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed an amicus brief on behalf of 22 members of Congress with the court asking that the case be dismissed.

"The federal appeals court reached the proper conclusion in dismissing this case," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ, which is active in defending the constitutionality of the cross. "We argued from the start that there was no reason for this case to proceed since the federal government lawfully took ownership of the land on which the memorial sits.  This brings to an end one legal chapter in this ongoing fight to keep the Mt.  Soledad cross in place."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion on Jan. 12, dismissing the case as moot.

In its brief filed with the appeals court, the ACLJ represented itself and 22 members of Congress including California Congressman Duncan Hunter who sponsored legislation that transferred control of the Mt. Soledad Memorial to the federal government. That legislation was signed into law by President Bush in August.  The brief is available online at www.aclj.org. 

Other legal challenges are underway.  They include a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Memorial. Additional litigation is underway in the California state court system where the ACLJ already has filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of the Memorial.

The ACLJ filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in 2006 and successfully argued that a federal district court's order calling for the removal of the cross should be stayed because important constitutional issues have been raised and that the federal and state appeals have not been exhausted.

The Mount Soledad case has generated national interest as well with more than 170,000 Americans-including more than 27,000 Californians-signing on to the ACLJ Petition to Preserve the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice specializes in constitutional law and focuses on religious liberty litigation. The ACLJ is based in Washington and is online at www.aclj.org. 

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