Mt. Soledad Appeal Filed At Last Minute

The San Jose Mercury News today reported that just hours before the deadline that had been imposed by a trial court for removal of the Mt. Soledad Cross, the city of San Diego formally asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for a stay of the order. (See prior posting.) City Attorney Mike Aguirre said he did not expect the appeal to succeed, but that he had a duty to try in order to respect the will of the voters who have approved measures designed to preserve the Cross. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said that if the stay is not granted, the city will obey the judge’s ruling and avoid paying the $5000 per day fine that will otherwise be incurred.