Thomas More Law Center: The Federal Government Should Take the Land to Save the Mt. Soledad Cross
ANN ARBOR, MI – Because both California state and federal courts are thwarting the will of San Diego citizens as well as Congress and the President regarding the Mt. Soledad Cross and Veterans Memorial, the Thomas More Law Center is proposing another legal alternative—urge President Bush to direct his Secretary of the Interior to acquire the land under federal powers of eminent domain.
According to Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, “Congress has vested statutory power in federal officers to acquire land for valid public uses, and the courts have held that acquiring land for national park purposes is a taking for public use and is constitutional.”
Thompson added, “This is just one of the many legal alternative we are pursuing to save the Cross as part of this national veterans memorial.”
The 17-year battle between the City of San Diego and the atheist Philip Paulson is reaching a critical stage. On May 3rd, Federal District Judge Gordon Thompson ordered San Diego officials to remove the historic Mount Soledad Cross within ninety days or face fines of $5,000 per day thereafter. The 43-foot Cross was erected in 1954 and currently is the centerpiece of a national memorial honoring American veterans of all wars.
On December 8, 2004, due in large measure to the efforts of the Thomas More Law Center, the United States Congress passed a law designating the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial, including the land on which it stands and the granite memorial walls surrounding it, a national veterans memorial. The federal law also authorized the Department of the Interior to accept a donation of the Memorial from the City of San Diego.
Despite widespread support, the San Diego City Council declined to make the donation. As a result, a group of local citizens, “San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial,” obtained the necessary signatures to place the issue on the July 2005 special election ballot as Proposition A. The ballot proposal passed by an astonishing 76% of the vote.
Nonetheless, Paulson’s attorney, seeking to thwart the will of the citizens of San Diego and circumvent the democratic process, convinced a state court judge to rule that the pending land transfer violated the California and United States Constitutions. Charles LiMandri, the west coast regional director of the Thomas More Law Center, is representing San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial in an appeal of this decision.
Robert Muise, one of the Law Center attorneys involved in the case, commented, “The battle to save this Cross is far from over. The Law Center is exhausting all options to save the Mt. Soledad Cross, including urging the President to acquire the property through condemnation proceedings. This would be a win-win situation. The will of the citizens of San Diego, who overwhelmingly supported transferring the land to the federal government to preserve the Memorial, would win, and the will of Congress would be achieved. We must be as aggressive and relentless to preserve our freedoms as those who seek to destroy them.”
For further information on the Mt Soledad Cross controversy you may visit the Thomas More Law Center website at www.thomasmore.org.
My E-mail to Family:
Family -I do not often send out e-mails like this, but this is one of the few times I feel the cause is worth seeking peoples attention.
We all grew up with the Mt. Soledad Cross in our backyard. Never giving it a second thought, but always knowing it was there. In a deep down appreciation we knew what that cross symbolized. The cross was one of the first places I took Pansy when I brought her home to meet the family our first summer together. It was with great joy I took my kids to see it, to show them and share with them this place I grew up knowing. But now, the cross may never be known by other, and what it stands for removed from the top of Mt. Soledad. The ACLU has fought the City of San Diego and a Judge has ordered it’s removal.
If you are so inclined to take a minute and reflect on really what the cross has meant to you over the years that you knew it was there and never thought it would be gone - please look over this simple web page and decide if your name should be added to the list of people wanting to save it.
Bo
