Ventura, CA - Tonight the Ventura City Council will decide whether to sell or remove a large mountain cross that is located in the city's Grant Park. The cross is located where the founder of the City of Ventura, Father Junipero Serra, placed the first cross, which served as a landmark for the new city. The issue arose after the City was threatened with a lawsuit by the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who view the cross as a state endorsement of religion, despite its historical significance. 

The president of Pacific Justice Institute, Brad Dacus, has already appeared at a meeting at Ventura City Hall, and made a defense of the constitutionality of the cross. Affiliate Attorney Rick Kahdeman is expected to represent PJI at the council meeting tonight. The Pacific Justice Institute has already pledged to represent the city without charge, should they decide to allow the cross to remain. In the alternative, the city may decide to sell the cross and the land on which it stands to the highest bidder. "We have done everything we can to explain to the City its right not to have to remove a mountain cross that has distinctive and irrefutable historical, secular significance. Courts have made it clear that religious symbols are likely not unconstitutional when they have distinctive historical significance. In Ellis v. City of La Mesa, the court held that 'Even a purely religious symbol may acquire independent historical significance by virtue of its being associated with significant non-religious events.'"

Anyone wishing to have a copy of the analysis presented to the City Council by the Pacific Justice Institute should call the office at 916-857-6900.

P.O. Box 4366, Citrus Heights, CA 95611
Phone (916) 857-6900 Fax (916) 857-6902
www.pacificjustice.org