Cross dispute may go to Supreme Court

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A veterans group has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule a judge's order to remove a war memorial cross from a Southern California mountain.

The Mt. Soledad Memorial Association on Tuesday asked the nation's highest court to allow the 43-foot cross to remain atop the mountain in San Diego. In December, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said it must go.

The veterans group— and the U.S. Department of Justice — already have asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule the judge.

The group says it hopes appealing straight to the Supreme Court will hasten resolution of a legal dispute that began in 1989 over whether the Korean War memorial site represents an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity on public property.