After 17 years of one man fighting the constitutionality of the Mount Soledad Cross on city property, a handful of new litigants entered the battle on Aug. 24.
The Jewish War Veterans and three San Diegans filed suit against the U.S. government and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claiming that the cross on federal property is unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs.
“There are many people claiming that it’s a neutral symbol designed to honor America’s war dead,” said Rebecca Rauber, ACLU spokeswoman. “They failed to explain how their preferred religious symbol honors those who don’t share the same religious beliefs, who gave their lives to the country but not in the name of the cross.”
Plaintiffs Richard Smith and Mina Sagheb believe that the presence of the cross on federal property undermines the sacrifices of non-Christian soldiers. The couple has resided in La Jolla for 40 years. Smith is a physician who served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy for two years. Smith is Jewish and Sagheb is Muslim.
Attorney Charles LiMandri, who has represented the city in the Mount Soledad case, said he is disappointed that the Jewish War Veterans group weighed in on the issue at this late hour. He said that all the major veterans groups have expressed their support for the cross, including the United Veterans Council, which represents the local chapter of Jewish War Veterans.
On Aug. 14, President George W. Bush signed legislation that transferred jurisdiction of the cross to the federal government. In doing so, the transfer essentially moots the two appeals pending before state and federal courts, according to LiMandri. The issue now falls under the federal constitution, not the state constitution as it was previously interpreted.
James McElroy, attorney for Philip Paulson, who first sued the city over the constitutionality of the cross in 1991, believes that the transfer changes nothing.
“Transferring land from one government entity to another government entity doesn’t solve the problem of a religious symbol on a government entity,” McElroy said.
The timeline for the latest lawsuit over the cross is unclear at this point, according to Rauber.