Nos. 08-56415, 08-56436 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JEWISH WAR VETERANS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, INC., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF SAN DIEGO, et al., Defendants-Appellees. On Appeal From the United States District Court for the District of Southern California Nos. 06-cv-01597-LAB, 06-cv-01728-LAB (Hon. Larry A. Burns) Brief of Amici Curiae Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of Amer- ica, Inc.; Interfaith Alliance; Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers; Military Religious Freedom Foundation; Progres- sive Christians Uniting; and Unitarian Universalist Association in Support of Appellants, Seeking Reversal Shelley J. Klein Ayesha N. Khan Julia Rubin Alex J. Luchenitser HADASSAH, THE WOMEN'S ZIONIST Josef M. Klazen ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA, INC. AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF 50 West 58th Street CHURCH AND STATE New York, NY 10019 518 C Street, NE (212) 303-8136 Washington, DC 20002 (202) 466-3234 Pedro L. Irigonegaray MILITARY RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOUNDATION 1535 SW 29th Street Topeka, KS 66611-1901 (785) 267-6115 Counsel for Amici Curiae CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT Amici are nonprofit corporations. None has any corporate parent, and no publicly held corporations own any part of any amicus. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT ............................................i TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .....................................................................iv INTEREST OF THE AMICI CURIAE .....................................................1 SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ..........................................................2 ARGUMENT ..............................................................................................3 I. The Cross Has Long Been, And Remains Today, The Preeminent Symbol Of Christianity ........................................3 A. For nearly two thousand years, the cross has been a readily identifiable Christian symbol ....................................5 B. The use of the cross in a veterans’ memorial does not transform it into a secular symbol, but instead pre- serves and employs its religious meaning ...........................14 II. Upholding Cross Displays By Labeling The Cross As Secular Is Offensive To Christians And Non-Christians Alike And Is Corrosive To The Values Underlying The Establishment Clause .............................................................................................24 A. A governmental determination that brands the cross as secular is offensive to Christians .........................................25 B. The Establishment Clause is predicated on the idea that religion does best when government is involved least ........................................................................................27 C. The Mt. Soledad cross sends the exclusionary message that the government prefers one religion over others .........31 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) CONCLUSION ........................................................................................34 APPENDIX: DESCRIPTIONS OF THE AMICI CURIAE ....................36 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE .......................................................40 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE .................................................................42 iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) Cases: ACLU v. City of Stow, 29 F. Supp. 2d 845 (N.D. Ohio 1998) ............13-14 Buono v. Kempthorne, 527 F.3d 758 (9th Cir. 2008) (“Buono IV”) ........13 Buono v. Norton, 371 F.3d 543 (9th Cir. 2004) (“Buono II”) ..................13 Capitol Square Review & Advisory Bd. v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753 (1995) ........................................................................12-13 Carpenter v. City & County of San Francisco, 93 F.3d 627 (9th Cir. 1996) ........................................................... 13, 26 County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573 (1989) .........................12, 32 Ellis v. City of La Mesa, 990 F.2d 1518 (9th Cir. 1993) .....................4, 13 Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962) ..................................................27, 29 Gonzales v. North Twp. Of Lake County, 4 F.3d 1412 (7th Cir. 1993) .................................................................13 Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Bd. of Educ., 333 U.S. 203 (1948) ..............27 Jewish War Veterans v. United States, 695 F. Supp. 3 (D.D.C. 1988) ..............................................................14 Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992)..................................................30-31 McCreary County v. ACLU, 545 U.S. 844 (2005) .............................30, 32 iv TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued) Paulson v. City of San Diego, 294 F.3d 1124 (9th Cir. 2002) (en banc) .......................................14, 20 Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (2000) .........................34 Sch. Dist. v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963) ............................................29 Trunk v. City of San Diego, 568 F. Supp. 2d 1199 (S.D. Cal. 2008) ........................... 3, 4, 15, 17, 19 Other Authorities: AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS: A GUIDE TO MILITARY CEMETERIES AND MONUMENTS MAINTAINED BY THE AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION (Elizabeth Nishiura ed., 1989) ................19 American Battle Monuments Commission, Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/ cemeteries/no_pict.pdf (last visited Jan. 8, 2009) ..............................19 AMERICAN MONUMENT ASSOCIATION, MEMORIAL SYMBOLISM, EPITAPHS AND DESIGN TYPES (1947) ..............................................16-17 Association of Religion Data Archives, National Profiles (United States), http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/ Country_234_1.asp (last visited Jan. 8, 2009)..............................25, 30 BAPTISTS AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE (James E. Wood, Jr., ed., 1976) ....................................................................................................28 NIGEL BARLEY, GRAVE MATTERS (1997) ..............................................10-11 v TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued) GEORGE WILLARD BENSON, THE CROSS: ITS HISTORY & SYMBOLISM (1934) ........................................................................................5, 7, 8, 31 SIR REGINALD BLOMFIELD, MEMOIRS OF AN ARCHITECT (1932) ...............23 ALAN BORG, WAR MEMORIALS: FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE PRESENT (1991) ................................................................................. 20, 21, 22, 23 THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA (Charles G. Herbermann et al. eds., 1913) ....................................................................................................10 Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Architecture, http://www.cwgc.org/content.asp?menuid=2&submenuid=10&- id=10&menuname=Architecture&menu=sub (last visited Jan. 6, 2009) ........................................................................................22 1 Corinthians 1:23 .....................................................................................5 EUSEBIUS, LIFE OF CONSTANTINE (Avril Cameron & Stuart G. Hall trans., 1999) ..........................................................................................7 RICHARD A. FELLOWS, SIR REGINALD BLOMFIELD: AN EDWARDIAN ARCHITECT (1985) ................................................................................23 GÜNTHER GASSMANN, HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF LUTHERANISM (2001) .....................................................................................................7 EDWIN S. GAUSTAD, ROGER WILLIAMS (2005) ..........................................28 Gordon B. Hinckley, First Presidency Message, The Symbol of Our Faith, ENSIGN, Apr. 2005 ......................................................................7 THOMAS JEFFERSON, WRITINGS (Merrill D. Peterson ed., 1984) .............33 vi TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued) Jefferson’s Act for Establishing Religious Freedom (1786), in CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICAN HISTORY: THE BURDEN OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM (John F. Wilson & Donald L. Drakeman eds., 1987) ............................................................................................29 Jehovah’s Witnesses Official Web Site, Did Jesus Really Die on a Cross?, http://www.watchtower.org/e/200604a/article_01.htm (last visited Jan. 8, 2009) ...................................................................7-8 DOUGLAS KEISTER, STORIES IN STONE: A FIELD GUIDE TO CEMETERY SYMBOLISM AND ICONOGRAPHY (2004) ................................... 6, 7, 10, 11 SIR FREDERICK KENYON, WAR GRAVES: HOW THE CEMETERIES ABROAD WILL BE DESIGNED (1918), available at http://your- archives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=The_Kenyon- _Report._Part_1 (last visited Jan. 8, 2009) ...................................22-23 ALEX KING, MEMORIALS OF THE GREAT WAR IN BRITAIN: THE SYMBOLISM AND POLITICS OF REMEMBRANCE (1998) ...........................21 Letter from James Madison to Edward Livingston (July 10, 1822), in SELECTED WRITINGS OF JAMES MADISON (Ralph Ketcham ed., 2006) ...............................................................................................28-29 James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785), in SELECTED WRITINGS OF JAMES MADISON (Ralph Ketcham ed., 2006) .................................................................32 ALISTER E. MCGRATH, LUTHER’S THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS (1985) ...........7 ANTHONY MCGUCKIN, THE WESTMINSTER HANDBOOK TO PATRISTIC THEOLOGY (2004) ..........................................................................5-6,