FIGHT OVER THE CROSS REVIVED BACKERS OF OLD SEAL SAY ISSUE COULD REACH HIGH COURT.

Byline: TROY ANDERSON Staff Writer

More than two years after officials ordered the image of a tiny cross removed from Los Angeles County's official seal, a pitched battle continues over the constitutionality of religious symbols in public places.

And this week a band of activists, many from the San Fernando Valley, will get yet another chance to make their case for returning the cross to the seal even as they have elevated their efforts to the national level.

One county-seal lawsuit -- along with two hearings on the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial cross in San Diego -- are scheduled to be heard in appellate courts. And attorneys say at least one could wind up being the first ever considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

``I think the U.S. Supreme Court is primed to take (such a) case here soon, whether it be Mount Soledad, the Los Angeles County seal case or any number of other cases,'' said Robert J. Muise, an attorney with the public-interest Thomas More Law Center.

The center is representing county Department of Public Works employee Ernesto R. Vasquez in this week's appeal alleging that the Board of Supervisors' decision in 2004 conveyed an impermissible, state-sponsored message of hostility toward Christianity.

American Civil Liberties Union officials, who threatened to sue the county in 2004 if the image was not removed from the seal, said they remain convinced that the appeal will be rejected.

``I don't think there is any chance they will prevail on the county seal case or that the U.S. Supreme Court would ever take that case,'' said ACLU of Southern California attorney Peter Eliasberg.

The ACLU and other groups have sued, or threatened to sue, cities, counties, states, school districts and other entities to force them to remove crosses, Ten Commandment plaques and other religious symbols on public property.

The groups argue that such symbols of Judeo-Christian heritage are unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which guarantees the freedom of religion and prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish a state religion.

Cities, counties and other jurisdictions have removed such symbols from seals and public property after the ACLU and other groups have sent letters, threatening to sue.

In some cases, they have paid millions of dollars in legal fees after unsuccessfully fighting the lawsuits in court.

Critics say the ACLU and other groups have used the threat of legal fees to intimidate communities into removing religious symbols or prohibiting public prayers.

Los Angeles County supervisors voted 3-2 in 2004 to remove the cross after receiving a letter from the ACLU, threatening suit.

The county spent an estimated $700,000 to redesign the 1957 seal and eliminate the cross.

And it is into this arena that Valley Village resident David Hernandez launched the Committee to Support the Los Angeles County Seal.

The group joined with the American Legion in an effort to get federal legislation that would prevent the ACLU and other groups from collecting legal fees in such cases.

``We would never have dreamed our efforts would be part of what was needed to help bring about ... legislation,'' said Hernandez, a retired insurance adjuster.

Rees Lloyd, a former ACLU attorney and a commander in the 2.7-million-member American Legion, said the ACLU is ``fleecing American taxpayers for millions of dollars ... using attorneys' fees as a club against elected bodies like the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Redlands City Council to compel them to surrender to the ACLU's politically driven, secular fanaticism.''

The Redlands City Council also agreed to remove a cross from its seal.

The ACLU's Eliasberg countered that it's silly to contend that the ACLU is using the act to profit and ``keep the people down.''

He noted several unsuccessful attempts by Los Angeles County volunteers to collect enough signatures to put the issue before a public vote. He also noted that voters in Redlands defeated a measure to return the cross to the city seal.

``Those are places where people recognized that using the principle symbol of one religious belief is not the kind of thing a city or county should do when you have people of all sorts of religious beliefs living there,'' Eliasberg said.

But Lloyd said military veterans nationwide were incensed when they learned about an attempt to remove the memorial cross in San Diego.

Hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions urging Congress to pass the ``Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2006,'' sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind.

Last month, the House voted 244-173 to pass the act. U.S. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., has sponsored a similar act in the Senate.

While Congress has recessed for the year, the acts are expected to be reintroduced next year.

Eliasberg said he doubts they will pass.

``Just looking at the political tea leaves, I think Congress will be far less hospitable to the bill next year,'' he said.

But Charles LiMandri, the West Coast regional director for the Thomas More Law Center who is handling two hearings on the Mount Soledad cross case, disagrees.

He believes the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case because Justice Anthony M. Kennedy issued an opinion in July granting a rare stay of a federal judge's order to remove the San Diego cross.

``In order to do that, (Kennedy) had to reach a determination that it's likely that four other justices would agree to hear the case,'' LiMandri said.

After Kennedy's opinion, President George W. Bush signed legislation that transferred the San Diego cross from city to federal property.

LiMandri intends to argue that the transfer moots the judge's removal order because the city no longer owns the cross.

Ultimately, if the Supreme Court justices agree to hear any of the cases, LiMandri said, their ruling would be precedent-setting.

``So what we have going on here -- and the reason why people are so engaged and emotional about the issue -- is basically a fight over the heart and soul of America. Whose vision is going to prevail? The ACLU's or our Founding Fathers?''

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) The old county seal is seen on a flag. At left is the new seal.

(3) David Hernandez stands next to the unchanged county seal at the Chatsworth Courthouse. He launched the Committee to Support the Los Angeles County Seal.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer