By Liberty Institute: To See the Original Article Click Here
Because Liberty Institute supporters provided the best quality legal representation to counter the ACLU,
the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial will continue to stand in honor of our nation’s veterans.
U.S. government conveys memorial and surrounding land to Liberty Institute client, Mt. Soledad Memorial Association, ending 25-year legal battle with entire Memorial intact!
It is a very good day for veterans and their memorials in the United States.
The Mt. Soledad Memorial Association (MSMA) announced on Monday the successful transfer of the historic Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial—including its 29-foot cross centerpiece—and the land it sits upon in San Diego, California, from the United States government to the MSMA.
The MSMA’s purchase of the memorial and its surrounding land from the U.S. government should end a legal dispute that has lasted over 25 years in which the ACLU and its clients attempted to tear down the memorial cross.
Liberty Institute Deputy Chief Counsel Hiram Sasser said, “The Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross has stood since 1954 as a symbol of the selfless sacrifice of our nation’s veterans. Such a sacred memorial should receive our highest honor and protection. Today’s actions will ensure that the memorial will continue to stand in honor of our veterans for decades to come. This is a great victory for the veterans who originally placed this memorial and the Korean War veterans the memorial honors. We thank our lead counsel, Allyson Ho and her team at the prestigious firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius who worked tirelessly to defend the memorial, leading to this ultimate victory.”
The first Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial has been the subject of a long-standing lawsuit involving the ACLU. The ACLU’s clients objected to the inclusion of a 29-foot cross, which was surrounded by more than 3,500 plaques containing the photos, names, and diverse religious symbols of our fallen service men and women.
Liberty Institute also thanks its supporters, whose donations enabled the memorial to enjoy the highest caliber legal representation from volunteer counsel Ho (a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk and White House advisor) and her team at no charge to our client. This representation—which otherwise may not have been obtainable—was instrumental in saving the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross. And that pro bono legal counsel was made possible only through Liberty Institute’s donors.
“This is a day to celebrate,” said Liberty Institute’s General Counsel Jeff Mateer. “But the work is not over in protecting veterans memorials from legal attacks by organizations opposed to religious imagery on public land.”
Liberty Institute is currently involved in a court battle to save the historic Bladensburg, Maryland World War I Veterans Memorial, which lawyers for the American Humanist Association (AHA) are trying to tear down. Liberty Institute represents The American Legion in that lawsuit. Previously, representing the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Liberty Institute assisted in preventing the ACLU from tearing down the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial Cross in the precedent setting Supreme Court case, Salazar v. Buono.
Please celebrate this enormous victory with us. And thank you for standing—through your financial support—to help us deploy more attorneys, to win more such cases, that restore religious liberty across America.
By Liberty Institute: To See the Original Article Click Here