WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court stepped in to San Diego’s Mount Soledad cross case July 3, issuing a stay and removing the possibility — at least temporarily — of fines while the appeals process plays out.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, acting alone on behalf of the court, issued the stay less than a week after the city of San Diego petitioned the court with the request. The high court’s intervention comes two months to the day after U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson Jr. ruled that the cross that crowns the Mount Soledad National War Memorial in San Diego must be removed from public property before Aug. 1 or the city will face fines of $5,000 per day that it remains in place.
After the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California decided not to issue a stay in the case June 21, the city of San Diego took their case to the Supreme Court even as the city attorney doubted that the court would act on their behalf.
The 29-foot cross was dedicated in 1954 as a memorial to those who fought and died in the Korean War.
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