On December 12, Breitbart News reported that a federal judge had ordered the removal of the Latin cross atop the Mt. Soledad Veterans War Memorial.
Although this is a federal war memorial, the Obama-Holder Justice Department has not attempted to get a higher court to reverse the decision ordering the memorial be dismantled. On Wednesday, lawyers representing the Mt. Soledad Memorial Associaton (MSMA), a private group which intervened in the case when the memorial’s legal defense seemed insufficient, stepped into the role that the Justice Department typically plays.
It is filing a notice of appeal to take this case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Allyson Ho is a law partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, and is lead counsel representing MSMA, along with attorneys from Liberty Institute. Ho said of today’s filing, “This appeal is just the first step toward what many believe is the ultimate destination for this case–the United States Supreme Court.”
Hiram Sasser, director of litigation at Liberty Institute, added that if “the ACLU is successful in tearing down” this war memorial on account of a prominent cross, then countless other war memorials and displays on public land will be in jeopardy.
Ken Klukowski is senior legal analyst for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @kenklukowski.