It's one of the big cases of the new term at the Supreme Court of the United States.  On Wednesday, the high court will hear oral arguments on a critical case involving the long-standing display of a cross that represents a war memorial in the Mojave Desert in California.

We have filed a very important amicus brief representing 15 members of Congress in the case urging the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision in the case.  You can read our amicus brief here. 

Our position in this case is very clear:  he high court should reject this legal challenge and conclude that the government’s action is not only appropriate but constitutional in this case.  This case represents the most extreme example of a phenomenon that has plagued the federal courts for decades – ideologically motivated citizens and public interest groups search out alleged Establishment Clause violations, almost always in the form of a passive religious symbol or display of some sort, and turn it into a federal case because they are offended.  It’s time for the high court to put an end to this disturbing practice.

In our friend-of-the-court brief filed with the high court in June, we represent the ACLJ and 15 members of the 111th Congress – including House Minority Leader John Boehner.  The ACLJ also represents these members of the U.S. House of Representatives:  Todd Akin, Michele Bachmann, Roy Blunt, Eric Cantor, Randy Forbes, Scott Garrett, Walter Jones, Jim Jordan, Doug Lamborn, Thaddeus McCotter, Jeff Miller, Mike Pence, Joseph Pitts, and Joe Wilson. 

We contend that this challenge has no place in federal court. Our brief is clear:  "This case is only the most extreme example of a phenomenon that has plagued the federal courts for the past three decades.  Ideologically motivated citizens and public interest groups search out alleged Establishment Clause violations, almost always in the form of a passive religious symbol or display of some sort, and make a federal case out of offense at the display."

The brief also contends that those who are offended by government speech or displays should not be permitted to use an Establishment Clause claim to seek relief in federal court. 

In the Mojave Desert case, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) built a cross more than 70 years ago to memorialize fallen service members in a remote area that is now part of a federal preserve. After the National Park Service denied a request to build a Buddhist shrine near the cross in 1999 and declared its intent to remove the cross, Congress designated the cross and an area of adjoining property as a national World War I memorial. 
 
A lawsuit was filed challenging the cross and, after the federal district court held that the federal government’s display of the cross violated the Establishment Clause, Congress directed the Department of the Interior to convey one acre of property that included the memorial to the VFW in exchange for a five-acre parcel of equal value.  But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit determined that the cross - and the land transfer - violated the Establishment Clause and ordered it removed.

The Justices will hear oral arguments in this case on Wednesday.  I will be in court and bring you a full report on how the arguments unfold.  For updates, check out our website and our daily radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!