Judge orders Mt. Soledad cross removed in 90 days

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published May 2, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

A federal judge has ordered the city of San Diego to remove the Mount Soledad cross with in 90 days, because it violates the constitutional separation of church and state. KPBS reporter Alison St John

A federal judge has ordered the City of San Diego to remove the Mount Soledad cross with in 90 days, because it violates the constitutional separation of church and state. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Judge Gordon Thompson says, quote, it's about time the city of San Diego complies with the 15 year old injunction to remove the cross from city owned land atop mount Soledad. He ordered the city to pay a fine of five thousand dollars a day if it doesn't comply.

Mayor Jerry Sanders responded by recommending all judicial remedies be pursued to keep the cross as part of the Mount Soledad War Memorial.

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Attorney Jim McElroy, who filed the injunction says, in a fiscal crisis, city taxpayers should not have to bear the financial brunt of the fine, or the continuing laws suit.

Supporters of keeping the cross where it is, say they may go to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and they expect to keep appealing right up to the U.S. Supreme Court. They say if San Diego is fined for not complying with the latest ruling, they'll consider a fundraising campaign to reimburse the city. Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.