There has been a positive development in the effort to save San Diego's Mt. Soledad Cross.
The cross, which honors American veterans, has been on Mt. Soledad in La Jolla since 1954 and stands 29 feet tall. An atheist filed the original lawsuit, complaining that the cross was an instance of government endorsement of religion. The Supreme Court decided not to rule on the constitutional challenge, sending it back to federal court to try to reach a settlement.
Liberty Institute took action after learning the ACLU and federal government were proposing to eliminate the Mt. Soledad Association, which is responsible for the cross, from those discussions.
Liberty Institute sttorney Jeff Mateer explains why the Liberty Institute had to step in.
"Certainly we felt like we had a very strong position, and it really does call in to question what the ACLU was up to in the case trying to exclude the veterans," he tells OneNewsNow.
"We hope that they weren't trying to reach some sort of agreement with the administration that would result in taking down this memorial."
But a federal judge this week has ruled nothing will go on behind closed doors, unless the Mt. Soledad Association is seated at the table.
"We will continue the defense of this veterans' memorial, and our goal is that it would be preserved -- that the cross would remain and that we would continue to honor the selfless sacrifice of the veterans," Mateer states.