Mt. Soledad Brief Due and Graduation Prayer Update
I received word this morning from Frank Manion, our Senior Counsel who is handling the Mt. Soledad case, that our brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will be due on June 13th. I have lawyers in our Virginia Beach office and our Kentucky office working on the preparation of the legal position that we will be filing with the Court. I also have a team in our D.C. office that will be working on the brief this week.
At this stage of the litigation, it appears that the city will be moving for a stay of the enforcement of the fines that will be leveled against the city if they maintain the cross. In the brief we will assert that while this case is being appealed, all potential fines should be stayed. This is just the first phase of the litigation in this matter. Later this week I will meet with Members of the U.S. Senate and Congress in order to pursue Federal responses for this War Memorial. We are thrilled with the response we are receiving from our members from around the country who have signed on to assist the city by supporting their efforts. As of this morning, we have over 130,000 signatures on our petition. We thank each of you for participating. If you have not signed the petition, please do so by clicking here: Click here to save San Diego's Mt. Soledad Cross
I have also included in our spotlight section a memorandum on graduation prayer. Students are being allowed to conduct prayer at graduation ceremonies from coast to coast. Fortunately, this year the cases of censorship have been very few. For the most part, school officials understand that if a Student Body President or the Valedictorian want to include a religious sentiment or a prayer in their speech, they have the constitutional right to do so. However, if you see any violations in your area, please feel free to contact us at 757-226-2489.
We will keep everyone posted on the Mt. Soledad situation as it continues to develop over the next critical days.