ACLJ to Represent Members of Congress in Legal Fight to Keep San Diego's Mt. Soledad Cross in Place.

WASHINGTON -- The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), specializing in constitutional law, said today it is pleased that the City of San Diego has voted to appeal court decisions ordering the removal of the Mount Soledad cross and announced that it will be representing members of Congress who are military veterans in filing friend-of-the-court briefs in support of San Diego's appeals. At the same time, the ACLJ has collected more than 120,000 names in a national petition campaign urging President Bush and others to intervene to save the cross. E[acute accent]"We will work aggressively to support the legal efforts by San Diego to appeal court decisions ordering the removal of the cross," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "We're delighted to see the City Council move forward with the appeals and we will be supporting that effort by filing amicus briefs on behalf of members of Congress who are military veterans. This cross has been part of a war memorial for more than 50 years. To remove this cross is an insult to the men and women who fought to protect our freedoms. This is an issue that has generated tremendous interest beyond San Diego - in the halls of Congress and among thousands of Americans. The war memorial - including the cross - is part of the history of San Diego and represents an important beachhead in the battle to turn back the ACLU's national effort to sanitize our culture - to strip it of religious symbols that are part of our heritage. We're confident that this flawed legal strategy to remove the cross ultimately will fail and we remain committed to do whatever is necessary to keep the cross in place." E[acute accent]Sekulow said the ACLJ will be representing members of Congress who have served our nation in the military - members of Congress who find the decision to remove the cross from the war memorial very troubling. E[acute accent]In addition to filing amicus briefs in support of San Diego's legal appeals, the ACLJ launched a national petition campaign urging federal, state, and local leaders to find a solution that will keep the Mt. Soledad cross from being removed. To date, more than 120,000 of Americans have signed on to the petition. The petition is posted online at www.aclj.org. E[acute accent]Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the ACLJ specializes in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.