Mojave Cross Under Wraps National Park Service covers controversial edifice during legal battle

(Found another scoop in the back of the internet from my days at The Sun. Michelle drove us out there and we were the only two reporters in the country who actually went to the location and took pictures.)

Thursday, March 13, 2003 - CIMA - Wrapped in a tan canvass, the controversial Mojave Cross looked like an oversize kite perched atop a 30-foot-high rock outcropping that towers over the surrounding Joshua tree forest.

Long stringy clouds obscured a half-moon that hung almost straight overhead late Thursday afternoon and a stiff breeze hissed loudly as it bent itself around the craggy rocks.

The cross is a few feet east of Cima Road 85 miles northeast of Barstow and 10 miles south of Interstate 15.

The National Park Service has covered up the 8-foot-tall cross situated on federal land in response to a judge's ruling that the structure violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

The U.S. Department of Justice recommended the action while it appeals the federal court ruling ordering the cross be removed from its site in the Mojave National Preserve, said Park Service spokeswoman Holly Bundock.

Although the cross violates the July 2002 court order, Congress passed legislation in 2000 barring the Park Service from spending money to remove it.

Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, has introduced legislation to save the cross through a land swap.

"We have legislation that tells us one thing, and a court case that tells us another thing,' Bundock said.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Timlin ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought suit to have the cross removed, but he did not set a date for the cross' removal.

Joe Bell, 58, of Santa Barbara was taking pictures of the cross Thursday.

A professional photographer, Bell has been visiting the site for years during his long excursions through the east Mojave.

"I think the ACLU is a spokesman for the socialists,' Bell said. "It's a waste of taxpayers' money.'

Dale Sharp of Helendale, a retired San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy and now a pastor, reflected the view of many who believe the ACLU is misinterpreting the meaning and value of the cross.

"It's a shame we in America bend to at the request of a few groups who do not support the Constitution of the United States,' Sharp said. "We should continue to hold on to the rights of the American people to display religious symbols.

"This is not a violation of church and state,' he said, "it's a violation of common sense.'

Sharp said he would support a suggestion to allow other non-Christian religious symbols on the site.

"Religious freedom means freedom for everybody,' he said. "The ACLU does not have the right to interpret the laws the way they do and some judge thinks they're right just because they are the ACLU. This is a travesty.'

Peter Eliasberg, the ACLU attorney handling the case, said the tarp is an "appropriate way' to deal with the cross until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals makes its final ruling.

Eliasberg said expects that could happen in four to six weeks.

"The government took the appropriate legal step to cover the cross,' Eliasberg said. "But we will win this case, and if the appeal is denied that cross should come down.'

He said the cross itself has been replaced several times and has no value as a symbol because of its longevity or material value.

The cross dates to 1934 when members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars built it as a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the First World War, which U.S. forces fought in during 1917 and 1918. It has been replaced several times since then. The site has often been used for Easter services, memorial services and social gatherings.

The ACLU filed a suit against the Park Service in March 2001, saying the cross violates the First Amendment.

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