While we wait on the Supreme Court to announce a ruling in the Mojave Cross case, a similar long-running dispute was back in front of a 9th Circuit panel. The Mt. Soledad Cross near San Diego, CA has been the focus of 20 years of litigation, with courts ruling the religious symbol must be removed until Congress stepped in and claimed the land as federal, declaring the cross site a war memorial. Observers at yesterday's 9th Circuit argument say it was difficult to determine whether the appellate judges were leaning toward once again declaring the arrangement unconstitutional.
[Judge Margaret] McKeown also closely questioned lawyers on the wording of the bill Congress passed to take the land, and what it says about the intent legislators had in doing so. The bill said Congress wanted to honor fallen service members by taking a historically significant site, and honor the voters in San Diego who had approved the land transfer in an election.
Among other things, McKeown wondered if it was the court’s place to second-guess the congressional purpose. A lawyer for the government argued that Congress had no intention to preserve a religious symbol when it acted, but a lawyer for the veterans countered that the cross was the historically significant aspect that Congress wanted to save.
AU's Sandhya Bathija writes on the case here.
