Supreme Court to hear Mojave Desert cross case

The Supreme Court announced Feb. 23 that it will hear the case regarding the Mojave Desert cross, an eight-foot-tall memorial to World War I veterans in California's San Bernardino County. The cross has been declared unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In November 2008, Liberty Legal Institute filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of The American Legion and other veterans service organizations. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to remove the veterans' memorial on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and ordered the memorial and cross to be dismantled.

Federal legislators intervened to save the cross. According to the Feb. 24 Los Angeles Times, Congress ordered the Interior Department to transfer one acre of land - where the cross stands - to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The 9th Circuit judges refused to allow the transfer. They ruled that such a move was unconstitutional and stood by its order to dismantle the monument. The cross is currently encased in a plywood box, now awaiting the Supreme Court's decision.

"It is bad enough to say that the veterans memorial is unconstitutional, but it is outrageous to say that the government cannot give the monument back to the people who spilled their blood and put it there in the first place," said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute and attorney for the veterans groups.

In the court brief, The American Legion and other veterans groups said the 9th Circuit's ruling could trigger legal challenges to the display of crosses at Arlington National Cemetery and elsewhere.

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