Bid to Save Cross on Mt. Soledad Fails : Symbol: Attorneys for city vow to press case despite rejection by U.S. Supreme Court justice. Land transfer bid is also being pursued.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down an emergency bid by the city of San Diego to postpone a March 3 deadline for destroying the giant cross atop Mt. Soledad, increasing the odds that it--and another huge cross atop Mt. Helix--will be toppled in two weeks.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor turned down the city’s bid without comment. Activist atheists and civil libertarians said the action was gratifying but not surprising, since the high court rarely entertains emergency pleas.

The city’s lawyers said Tuesday, however, that the fight is far from over.

The city plans another emergency plea, this time to U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. It also is going ahead with a deal that would transfer the land on which the Mt. Soledad cross sits from public to private hands, Deputy City Atty. Mary Kay Jackson said.

“We’re disappointed but we’re not giving up until all our options have been denied,” Jackson said.

O’Connor’s order let stand a Dec. 3 ruling from U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson Jr. in San Diego that the Mt. Soledad cross in La Jolla and the Mt. Helix cross near La Mesa must come down by March 3. Both crosses are brightly lit at night and are visible for miles.

The two crosses, which have both stood for decades in public parks, violate the California Constitution’s ban on mixing church and state, Thompson said.

For the same reason, the judge also ruled that the city of La Mesa must change its official insignia, which features a depiction of the Mt. Helix cross.

The case arose after atheist activists brought suit in 1989 challenging the Mt. Soledad cross. The next year, the American Civil Liberties Union joined in with a challenge to the Mt. Helix cross and the La Mesa insignia.

The cities and county have both appealed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, contending that Thompson is wrong and that a March 3 deadline doesn’t allow time to keep the crosses up while the appeals grind on.

Last Thursday, the 9th Circuit court denied a bid to extend Thompson’s March 3 deadline. That prompted a turn to O’Connor, who not only automatically handles emergency appeals from California and other western states but has been a leading voice on the high court in the field of church and state.

Her ruling Tuesday has no effect on the underlying appeal itself.

“As a question of law, I don’t think this one is difficult,” said Betty Wheeler, legal director of the ACLU’s San Diego office. “Obviously, I recognize it’s difficult emotionally for many people. But as a matter of law, I think it’s fairly clear.” The crosses violate the law, she said.

Jackson, the deputy San Diego city attorney, said Tuesday the city is going forward with plans to transfer a 15-foot by 15-foot parcel of land around the Mt. Soledad cross to the Mt. Soledad Memorial Assn., which owns the cross itself. The City Council is due to vote next Monday on the transfer, she said.

“We will be scrutinizing that transaction very carefully,” Wheeler said.

County officials last week announced a plan to transfer the Mt. Helix cross to the San Diego Historical Society.