Group wants Supreme Court to save CA war memorial

SAN DIEGO — Supporters of a war memorial cross deemed unconstitutional last year by a federal court rallied at the landmark on Thursday as lawyers asked the Supreme Court to reverse the decision, amid a growing fight nationwide over the use of religious symbols to honor fallen troops.

A nonprofit legal firm, Liberty Institute in Dallas, filed the petition on behalf of the Mount Soledad Memorial Association to preserve the 43-foot monument on federal land atop the picturesque San Diego peak overlooking the Pacific Ocean in suburban La Jolla.

The gathering by 75 supporters of the cross also drew about three-dozen people who want it taken down.

The supporters told the opponents that the cross isn't about religion, but about honoring service members. The memorial's plaques have names and stories of about 3,000 who served in conflicts from World War I to Iraq.

Retired Marine Lt. Col. Jack Harkins said people come to Mount Soledad from across the country to reflect and remember those who fought for the values of the American people.

"Let future generations enjoy their right to that experience," he said. "Let this monument stand."

One of the opponents, Bruce Gleason, said it would be "grand" if the memorial included a 40-foot Star of David as well as Wiccan and atheist symbols.

"This cross is unconstitutional in a multitude of courts and every time that happens they've upped the ante," said Gleason, founder of the Backyard Skeptics of Villa Park, Calif. in neighboring Orange County.

The Supreme Court has signaled a greater willingness to allow religious symbols on public land, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last month that writes into law the propriety of displaying such markers at war memorials. Supporters are lobbying members of the Senate to approve it.

Members of the American Civil Liberties Union that won the lawsuit in the 9th Circuit said the bill ignores the Constitution, which they argued was written to ensure government monuments do not exclude people. They say memorials can honor troops without religious symbolism.

"Congress cannot, by definition, authorize the government to violate the Constitution," said David Loy, the ACLU's legal director in San Diego. "It's unconstitutional for the government to sponsor and maintain this particular cross that is visible for miles. The point of a war memorial or veterans' memorial is to remember all veterans."