Court Says Cross Can Stay on Former City Land
A federal appeals court ruled a 43-foot cross can remain on Mt. Soledad overlooking La Jolla.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the city’s stratagem of selling the land beneath the cross to a nonprofit group to preserve the landmark.
The action was taken after the ACLU and others objected to a cross on public land. A judge had ordered the cross removed as a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.
In 1998, the city sold the cross and half an acre of land for $106,000 as a way to save the cross, which was erected after World War II as a memorial to military veterans.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.