Judge rules Christian Attorneys can not defend City.

>South of Los Angeles, the battle to save the cross on Mt. Soleded continues. Inspite of a 76% voter approval, Superior Court Judge Patricia Yim Cowett ruled prop A was unconstitutional and set aside the vote.

>Astoundingly, Judge Cowett also found representation of the City by an attorney associated with the Thomas More Law Center, a Christian public interest law firm, was an unconstitutional “entanglement” of the City government with religion.

>So what we have is a judge who feels it is unconstitutional for Attorneys who are Christian to represent the city. This is where the attacks have led us, blatant discrimination against people of faith. How far will you let this go, can we see a day when people of faith can not teach in public schools, hold government jobs or run for public office?

>The battle is real and either you are engaged in the battle or you will just suffer the continued loss of your freedom..

David Hernandez

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Mt. Soledad Cross Case Reaches California Court of Appeal

RANCHO SANTA FE, CA – A sixteen-year legal battle over the presence of a concrete cross surrounded by a veterans war memorial atop Mt. Soledad in La Jolla, California is moving on to the California Court of Appeal.

San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial, a community group which garnered 76 per cent of the vote in their successful ballot proposition requiring the City of San Diego to donate the property under the cross to the federal government, has appealed the Superior Court order that found the ballot measure unconstitutional and unenforceable.

Rancho Santa Fe attorney Charles LiMandri, Director of the west coast office of the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm, is representing the community group, its chairman, members of the Memorial Association, and the sons of the late contractor who built the cross in 1954. All have joined together to preserve the memorial and cross.

The cross has been the subject of a 1989 federal lawsuit filed by atheist Philip Paulson. In 1991, Federal District Court Judge Gordon Thompson ruled that the stand-alone cross on City-owned property violated the California Constitution.

However, since 2000 the cross has become the centerpiece of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial.

In December 2004, the United States Congress designated the Memorial a national veterans memorial and authorized the Department of the Interior to accept a donation of the property. Supporters of the Memorial believed that a transfer of the property to the federal government was the best hope for maintaining the cross as its centerpiece in the face of continued legal challenges by Paulson.

Despite widespread popular support for the cross to remain, as it is where it is, the San Diego City Council declined to make the donation. A grass roots movement to overturn the City Council action was spearheaded by a religiously diverse group of local citizens, “San Diegans the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial.” More than 100,000 County residents signed the group’s petition calling on the Council to reverse its position.

As a result, the Council Proposition A, which authorized the donation, was placed on the July 2005 special election ballot. Prop A passed with more than 76% of the vote.

Before the vote on Prop A, attorneys for Paulson filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to stop the election. Initially, San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Yim Cowett allowed the vote to take place (although she ordered that Prop A had to receive a supermajority of 66% of the vote in order to pass).

However, after the election, Judge Cowett ruled that Prop A was unconstitutional under California Constitution which prohibits aid to religious purposes, and discrimination against or preference for religion.

Astoundingly, Judge Cowett also found representation of the City by an attorney associated with the Thomas More Law Center, a Christian public interest law firm, was an unconstitutional “entanglement” of the City government with religion.

Charles LiMandri, director of the Thomas More Law Center’s west coast regional office, said, “As far as we know, this is the first court in the nation to hold that it is unconstitutional for Christian lawyers to represent government entities. That really underscores this judge’s anti-Christian bias.”

LiMandri filed a motion to vacate Judge Cowett’s ruling on behalf of his clients. Judge Cowett refused to even consider their motion. Filing the motion, however, gave them standing to appeal.

Newly elected San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has announced publicly that the City will also appeal Judge Cowett’s order and commended LiMandri for his pro bono work on behalf of the City in the state court case.

Dennis Prager speaks to Supervisors on LA County Seal

DENNIS PRAGER: ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME THE TIME TO SPEAK. I WILL BE VERY BRIEF, AS I HAVE TO BE IN ANY EVENT. SUPERVISORS, I HAVE NEVER APPEARED BEFORE YOU. I LIVED MY WHOLE ADULT LIFE IN LOS ANGELES AND I'VE NEVER COME HERE, I'M NOT AN ACTIVIST. I'M NOT TERRIBLY INTERESTED IN POLITICS. IF YOU HEAR MY SHOW, IT'S LIKELY TO TALK ABOUT RAISING CHILDREN AS IT IS ABOUT IRAQ, BUT THIS IS NOT MY NATURE. YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ME HERE BECAUSE I'VE NEVER FELT AS PASSIONATELY ABOUT AN ISSUE. LET ME PUT IT AS BLUNTLY AS I CAN, GIVEN THE TIME FACTOR. I DON'T JUDGE YOUR INTENTIONS BUT THE THREE OF YOU WHO VOTED TO ERASE THE CROSS FROM THE SEAL OF THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES HAVE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE. I DON'T THINK YOU REALIZED THE SEVERITY OF WHAT YOU DID. YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS THE ADVOCACY OF CHRISTIANITY IN OUR SOCIETY, SO LET ME TELL YOU THAT I AM A RELIGIOUS PRACTICING JEW, THAT THERE ARE RABBIS IN THIS AUDIENCE WHO ARE HERE, THERE ARE ATHEISTS, THERE ARE BUDDHISTS, JUST FOR PEOPLE WHO CAME OVER TO ME. THE ISSUE IS ONE THAT I KNOW MY FRIEND OF MANY YEARS, ZEV YAROSLAVSKY, CAN RELATE TO. IT IS THE ERASING OF HISTORY. CHRISTIANITY PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTY. TO TAKE THAT CROSS OFF IS A SYMBOL OF SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENING. IN THE SOVIET UNION, THERE WAS A JOKE, A VERY POWERFUL, DISSIDENT JOKE. I'M SURE THAT ZEV REMEMBERS THIS. THEY USED TO SAY, IN THE SOVIET UNION, THAT THE FUTURE IS KNOWN, IT'S THE PAST WHICH IS ALWAYS CHANGING. TOTALITARIANISM IS NOT POSSIBLE UNLESS YOU ERASE THE PAST. THAT IS WHAT YOU DID. THAT IS WHY THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE HERE AND THOUSANDS OUTSIDE. THAT IS THE ONLY REASON I AM HERE. I NEVER INTENDED TO BE HERE. MAYBE ON MY BIRTHDAY ONE YEAR YOU'LL HONOR ME BUT I NEVER HAD ANY INTENTION FOR ANY OTHER REASON TO BE HERE. I NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE WHIRLWIND THAT YOU ARE REAPING. I BEG YOU, FOR YOUR SAKE, TO UNDERSTAND THIS. WHAT YOU ARE OFFERING IS NOT A COMPROMISE. PUTTING A MISSION AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE INSTEAD OF THE CROSS IS NOT A COMPROMISE AND WE'RE NOT STUPID. WE'D HAVE TO BE STUPID TO BELIEVE THAT'S A COMPROMISE. IF THERE'S NO CROSS, THERE'S NO COMPROMISE. IT'S AS SIMPLE AS THAT. IF THERE IS... [ ENTHUSIASTIC CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ]
DENNIS PRAGER: IF THERE IS A MISSION, AS ONE WRITER-- AS ONE LISTENER TO MY SHOW WROTE TO ME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY HEARING THIS, IT WILL LOOK LIKE A TACO BELL. NOBODY WILL KNOW WHAT THAT BUILDING IS. THE A.C.L.U. IS FOOLING YOU. THEY ARE LEADING YOU DOWN A VERY TERRIBLE PATH. THEY, CONTRARY TO THE L.A. TIMES EDITORIAL, I DIDN'T GOAD THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HERE TODAY. THE A.C.L.U. GOADED YOU INTO THEIR PLAN TO DE-CHRISTIANIZE THIS COUNTRY. YOU FELL IN. FOR YOUR SAKE AND FOR THE SAKE OF AMERICA, I BEG OF YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF THE WHIRLWIND YOU HAVE REAPED. DON'T REWRITE OUR HISTORY. THANK YOU. [ ENTHUSIASTIC CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ]
SUP. KNABE, CHAIR: ALL RIGHT. LET ME MAKE A SUGGESTION SINCE MY MICROPHONE IS NOT WORKING. [ LAUGHTER ]
SUP. KNABE, CHAIR: INSTEAD OF THE APPLAUSE, WHEN YOU HEAR SOMETHING YOU LIKE, JUST GO LIKE THIS. [ LAUGHTER ]
SUP. KNABE, CHAIR: ALL RIGHT? THERE YOU GO. WE'LL GET THE MESSAGE UP HERE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, DENNIS, FOR TAKING THE TIME TO BE HERE.

This is from the official transcript of Los Angeles County Board Meeting of June 8, 2004.