Supreme Court Stays Cross Removal
Justice Kennedy issued a temporary stay against the order by a US District court judge to remove the cross that has stood on Mount Soledad in San Diego since 1954 (and actually replaced crosses that had been there longer than that.) My earlier post on this is here.
A lower court judge had ordered the city of San Diego to remove the cross or be fined $5,000 a day.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, acting for the high court, issued a stay while supporters of the cross continue their legal fight.
Lawyers for San Diegans for the Mount Soledad National War Memorial said in an appeal that they wanted to avoid the "destruction of this national treasure." And attorneys for the city said the cross was part of a broader memorial that was important to the community.
Phil Thalheimer, chairman of the war memorial group, said the ruling "borders on divine intervention."
"We were jumping up and down," he said. "For this to happen on July 3 — the day before our Independence Day, which is about freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of expression — it couldn't have happened better."
I maintain the cross should stay. I do not believe that this "establishes" a religion, nor should it be considered offensive.
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Assorted Babble by Suzie — July 4, 2006 @ 7:10 am
By Shawn, July 4, 2006 @ 2:32 am
I’m with you. Want to bet that if this were a star and cresent instead of a cross no one would have objected in the first place? Why? Because they would say it doesn’t establish a religion.