Voters Have Spoken - The Cross still Reigns over San Diego

I know Larry has posted on the Mt. Soledad Cross a few times in the past and the help by the Thomas More Law Center in assisting with the efforts to keep the cross. There is a news update from the Thomas More Law Center that came out this morning and it looks to be GREAT news...:

ANN ARBOR, MI. -- Despite fifteen years of adverse court rulings, city council decisions to remove the cross, a local war memorial associations agreement to settle the case by removing the cross, and last week’s surprise decision by a state judge requiring a two-thirds vote of the people before the city would be forced to donate the cross and memorial to the federal government as a national war memorial, the citizens of San Diego spoke loud and clear- - keep the cross where it is as it is. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, unofficial results show that over 75 percent of the voters voted to keep the cross and war memorial in yesterdays voting.

The 43 foot concrete Mt. Soledad Cross has been the center of a war memorial on city land since 1954. However, in 1989, an atheist filed a federal lawsuit challenging its constitutionality because it was located on public property.

The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, played an instrumental role in saving the cross. Its legal analysis was the basis for a federal law that declared the cross and memorial as a National War Memorial and authorized the federal government to receive a donation of the land on which the cross and memorial stood.

Commenting on the overwhelming voter support for the cross, an elated Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center said, “This is a tremendous victory in an important battle, but the war is not over. The other side has not surrendered; court battles over the cross continue.”

Two court dates are scheduled within the next month. A federal judge will hear arguments over the cross on August 15th, and a state Superior Court judge will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the ballot measure on August 12th.

Chuck LiMandri, Director of the Law Center’s western regional office, personally played a significant role in both the federal and state lawsuits over the cross. LiMandri was instrumental in obtaining the support of area Congressmen, Duncan Hunter and Randy “Duke” Cunningham, both Republicans, who authored the bill authorizing the federal government to take over the memorial as a national war memorial. President Bush signed the bill into law in December 2004.

LiMandri also served as vice –chairman of the San Diegans for the Mount Soledad National War Memorial which was established to coordinate the signature drive to place the issue on the ballot after the city refused to donate the cross and memorial to the federal government. In a historical first, it took only 23 days for the group to gather 105,000 signatures.