San Diego
Atheists who want the cross on Mt. Soledad removed sued the city of San Diego in federal court Wednesday, claiming the city violates the U. S. Constitution by promoting religion.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the Society of Separationists and two San Diego atheists, Howard T. Kreisner and Philip K. Paulson.
The suit claims the city is violating the Constitution’s separation of church and state, as well as the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Local atheists said last month that they intended to sue the city over a city attorney’s opinion that the cross is secular and has long been a memorial to American soldiers killed in World Wars I and II, and the Korean War.
The cross sits atop 822-foot Mt. Soledad in La Jolla, from which there are spectacular views of the city and beyond. It was first erected in 1913. It was destroyed by vandals 10 years later, and a new cross was built. A windstorm toppled the cross in 1952, and, two years later, citizens put up the cross that stands today.
Mt. Soledad was dedicated as a public park in 1916.
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