The long-running ACLU lawsuit against the Mount Soledad cross in San Diego reached another milestone at the 9th Circuit, with a three-judge panel ruling the cross is unConstitutional.

A war memorial cross in a San Diego public park is unconstitutional because it conveys a message of government endorsement of religion…The court said modifications could be made to make it constitutional, but it didn’t specify what those changes would be.

The 9th Circuit panel did not direct that the cross be torn down.  Instead, it was remanded for the lower court to determine if the cross could be “modified” to pass “muster.”

The Alliance Defense Fund has been defending the memorial, and said:

The memory of those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom shouldn’t be dishonored because the ACLU finds a small number of people who are merely offended.  It’s tragic that the court chose a twisted and tired interpretation of the First Amendment over the common sense idea that the families of fallen American troops should be allowed to honor these heroes as they choose. No one is harmed, constitutionally or otherwise, by the presence of a cross on a war memorial. There is great harm to tearing these memorials down.