ACLJ Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Uphold Cross Display in Mohave Desert

Fifteen Members of Congress Represented in Filed Brief

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2009—The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the nation's leading conservative public interest law firm, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Monday, asking the high court to overturn an appeals court decision and uphold the long-standing display of a cross-representing a war memorial-in the Mojave Desert in California.  (Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, et al., v. Buono - 08-472)

The amicus brief represents the ACLJ and 15 members of the 111th Congress including House Minority Leader John Boehner and the following members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Rep. Todd Akin, Rep. Michele Bachmann, Rep. Roy Blunt, Rep. Eric Cantor, Rep. Randy Forbes, Rep. Scott Garrett, Rep. Walter Jones, Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Doug Lamborn, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, Rep. Jeff Miller, Rep. Mike Pence, Rep. Joseph Pitts and Rep. Joe Wilson. 

"The high court should reject this legal challenge and conclude that the government's action is not only appropriate but constitutional in this case," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ, who successfully argued a First Amendment case at the Supreme Court this term.  "This case represents the most extreme example of a phenomenon that has plagued the federal courts for decades - ideologically motivated citizens and public interest groups search out alleged Establishment Clause violations, almost always in the form of a passive religious symbol or display of some sort, and turn it into a federal case because they are offended.  It's time for the high court to put an end to this disturbing practice."

In the friend-of-the-court brief, the ACLJ contends that this challenge has no place in federal court and argues that those who are offended by government speech or displays should not be permitted to use an Establishment Clause claim to seek relief in federal court.  Additionally, the amicus brief states that the lax rules governing who can sue under the Establishment Clause are not consistent with the Constitution and separation of powers doctrine.  Read the full ACLJ amicus brief here:  http://www.aclj.org/media/pdf/SalazarBrief_June.pdf

This case comes just months after the ACLJ obtained a victory at the Supreme Court in a case where a Utah city accepted a monument of the Ten Commandments and displayed it in a city park.  In Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, the high court unanimously concluded the city could constitutionally display the monument - and reject another - clearing the way for governments to accept permanent monuments of their choosing in public parks. 

Backgroud on the Mojave Desert Case

In the Mojave Desert case, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) built a cross more than 70 years ago to memorialize fallen service members in a remote area that is now part of a federal preserve.  After the National Park Service denied a request to build a Buddhist shrine near the cross in 1999 and declared its intent to remove the cross, Congress designated the cross and an area of adjoining property as a national World War I memorial. 
 
A lawsuit was filed challenging the cross and, after the federal district court held that the federal government's display of the cross violated the Establishment Clause, Congress directed the Department of the Interior to convey one acre of property that included the memorial to the VFW in exchange for a five-acre parcel of equal value.  But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit determined that the cross - and the land transfer - violated the Establishment Clause and ordered it removed.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.  The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.  The ACLJ's online newsroom-with high-res, downloadable graphics, principal bios, ACLJ fact sheets, etc.-can be accessed at www.DeMossNews.com/aclj. 

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