U.S. Supreme Court taking interest in Mojave cross
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to step into a long-running legal fight over an 8-foot cross that stands as a war memorial in the Mojave National Preserve in California.
The justices said that in court arguments set for this fall, they will consider throwing out an appeals court ruling that ordered the cross removed.
The American Civil Liberties Union and a former National Park Service employee have been challenging the cross's continued presence on national parkland for nearly eight years. A cross has stood on the site for decades atop Sunrise Rock, just off Cima Road south of Interstate 15.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals twice said the cross must come down. It invalidated a 2004 congressionally approved land transfer to a private party, saying "carving out a tiny parcel of property in the midst of this vast preserve -- like a donut hole with the cross atop it -- will do nothing to minimize the impermissible governmental endorsement."
The origin of the cross dates back to 1934 when J. Riley Bembry and other World War I veterans fashioned a cross out of steel pipe. According to a plaque they placed nearby, they intended it to be a memorial to all war veterans.
The vets would gather at the rock on Easter Sunday for sunrise services. The cross became more than a war memorial; it became a religious gathering place.
The plaque disappeared and vandals or the elements sometimes would knock the cross down. But Bembry or another vet would put it back up.
Bembry died in 1984, and new caretakers took over.
In October 1999, the ACLU threatened to sue if the cross was not removed. Park Service officials decided the cross did not have enough historical significance to qualify for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Review-Journal contributed to this report. Wondering how a local story turned out or what happened to someone in the news? Call the City Desk at 383-0264, and we will try to answer your question in this column.
