PASADENA, Calif. — ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco and ADF Legal Counsel Timothy Chandler will be available for media interviews following oral arguments in a long-running lawsuit over the Mt. Soledad Veterans’ Memorial. In March, ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of The American Legion Department of California in defense of the 55-year-old Mt. Soledad cross after the American Civil Liberties Union and atheist Steve Trunk challenged its constitutionality.
“One person’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifices made by America’s veterans and their families,” said Infranco. “No one is dishonored when a memorial is graced with a cross. However, our veterans are dishonored by the ACLU’s campaign to erase the memories these memorials represent.”
For almost 20 years, multiple lawsuits have been filed in an attempt to tear down the 29-foot cross. In 2005, 76 percent of San Diego voters chose to preserve the cross by transferring the memorial from city property to the ownership of the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 2006, Congress passed a law that officially transferred ownership. The ACLU unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the land transfer.
A district court also rejected a claim by the ACLU and Trunk that the cross itself is unconstitutional. They appealed that ruling to the 9th Circuit.
“Over a period of nearly 20 years, the courts, along with the majority of San Diegans, have soundly rejected the ACLU’s attempts to tear down the cross, a universally recognized symbol of honor for those who have fallen,” said Chandler. “It’s time to bring an end to the ACLU’s ridiculous campaign to ‘secularize’ the memorial.”
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.