Cross on federal land must be taken down

By The Associated Press

07.26.02

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A federal judge has ruled that a 6-foot cross in the Mojave National Preserve conveys a message of endorsement of religion on federal land and should be taken down.

On July 24, U.S. District Judge Robert Timlin of Riverside sided with attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union who believed the cross violated the Constitution because it was a religious symbol on public land.

"Unless the government is willing to open up the land to everyone, in a come one, come all manner, then the government has no business allowing one symbol," said Peter Eliasberg, staff attorney of the ACLU's Southern California chapter.

The cross atop an outcropping 11 miles south of Interstate 15 between Barstow and Las Vegas dates to 1934.

Prospector and World War I veteran John Riley Bembry raised the cross to honor fellow veterans of that war. Bembry was near death when he made his friend Henry Sandoz promise to watch over the memorial. For 20 years, Sandoz honored his vow, faithfully repairing the wooden cross and later welding a metal one onto Sunrise Rock in the Mojave National Preserve.

Now, it appears Sandoz, 63, can no longer care for the cross.

"It makes me feel like heck. It's crazy you know," said Sandoz, who lives near a handful of other families on the outskirts of the 2,500 square miles of federal desert preserve near the California-Nevada border.

Sandoz said maintaining the cross wasn't easy. Vandals brought it down more than once.

"I got together with some of the cowboys and the locals and put it back there. Finally we got a heavy steel one and welded it down," he recalled.

The controversy began when a man requested permission from National Park Service officials to erect a Buddhist shrine near the cross in 1999. His request was denied.

The ACLU filed its lawsuit in March 2001 against the National Park Service.

Locals like Sandoz took their fight to Congress and won a temporary reprieve in when Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, pushed a bill through the House making the cross a national landmark.

Then came this week’s court ruling.

Sandoz says the cross is not about Christianity — it's about the veterans.

But Eliasberg, who argued the case, disagreed.

"If you really wanted to honor veterans, it seems to me you could do it without making divisions," he said. "My father was a World War II veteran. The cross is not meaningful to him because he's not Christian. He's Jewish."

"To me it's about the First Amendment," added Frank Buono, the retired park service worker brought the lawsuit. "In society, where there is no separation between religion and state such as the Taliban, the first thing to suffer is religious freedom."

The judge's decision gave no timeline for removal of the cross. The U.S. Department of Justice, which represented the National Park Service in the case, said it may take weeks to decide whether to appeal.

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ACLU sues to remove cross from Mojave National Preserve
Group says religious symbol has no place on public land, but park officials say bill passed by Congress bars using federal funds to remove it.  03.26.01