ACLU Vows to Fight Reinstating Cross on L.A. County Seal

ACLU Vows to Fight Reinstating Cross on L.A. County Seal

by Robert Wilde 2 Jan 2014

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/02/LA-County-Supervisors-Fight-to-Reinstate-Cross-on-County-Seal

On New Year’s Eve, two Los Angeles County supervisors took a stand and filed a motion calling for the placement of a cross on the county seal.

From 1957 to 2004, on the face of the seal, a cross hovered above a depiction of the Hollywood Bowl, acknowledging a Christian influence in the founding of Los Angeles. The Christian symbol was expunged in 2007 as a result of demands by secular activists and the ACLU.

The secularists argued that the symbol of the cross on the county seal violated the separation of church and state. The Board of Supervisors at that time voted 3-2 to remove the cross.

In Tuesday’s motion, LA County Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Don Knabe called to add a cross to the drawing of the San Gabriel Mission on the county's official emblem, arguing that it was important “to accurately reflect the cultural and historical role that the Mission played in the development of the Los Angeles County region.”

The dean of UC Irvine’s law school, Erwin Chemerinsky, said placing a cross on the seal is unconstitutional. “The government can’t put religious symbols on government property in a way that would cause a reasonable observer to see it as the endorsement of a religion,” the dean said. “Though the supervisors may say there is a history of missions in Los Angeles history, the reality is a cross is a Christian symbol and only a Christian symbol, and a reasonable person is likely to perceive it as a Christian symbol.”

Dennis Prager, conservative talk radio host and Jewish scholar, ran an energetic campaign in 2004 to keep the symbol of the cross on the seal. He wrote:

For the overwhelming majority of millions of citizens of Los Angeles County over the past 50 years, this seal has aroused no opposition. But a few months ago, someone with a magnifying glass at the American Civil Liberties Union discovered that the smallest item on the seal was a cross. And in its aim to expunge any trace of Christianity and God from American public life, the ACLU brought this fact to the attention of the five Los Angeles County supervisors. The three liberals on the board were equally horrified, and voted within days to erase the cross and redesign the seal, which now depicts a building with no Christian symbol in place of the cross.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Raben Group was the lobby firm for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Note: Melody C. Barnes was a principal for the Raben Group, the domestic policy council, director for the Barack Obama administration, the EVP for the Center for American Progress, and is Barack Obama’s golf partner.

Morton H. Halperin was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a director, Washington office for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and is a senior adviser for the Open Society Foundations.

Robert Raben is the president for the Raben Group, and was a director at the American Constitution Society.

Dawn E. Johnsen is a director at the American Constitution Society, was the director nominee, Office of Legal Counsel for the Barack Obama administration, and counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Caroline Fredrickson was the Washington legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and is the president for the American Constitution Society.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the American Constitution Society, and the Human Rights Watch.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a director at the Drug Policy Alliance, and was a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the American Constitution Society, and the Human Rights Watch.

Ira Glasser is a director at the Drug Policy Alliance, and was an executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),

Aryeh Neier was the president for the Open Society Foundations, an executive director for the Human Rights Watch, an executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), is the vice chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a director at the Center for American Progress.

Melody C. Barnes was the EVP for the Center for American Progress, the domestic policy council, director for the Barack Obama administration, a principal for the Raben Group, and is Barack Obama’s golf partner.

Raben Group was the lobby firm for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).