page_title: Mount Soledad
section_title: Mount Soledad Cross
hierarchical_section_title: Mount Soledad / Mount Soledad Cross
caption_attribution_description: English: Restoration of the Mt. Soledad Cross
context_page_description: Mount Soledad is a prominent landmark in the city of San Diego, California, United States. The mountaintop is the site of the Mount Soledad Cross, the subject of a 25-year controversy over the involvement of religion in government which concluded in 2016.
context_section_description: Mount Soledad is topped by a large concrete Christian cross, first built in 1913, and since rebuilt twice. The third and current version was dedicated in 1954 as the Mount Soledad Easter Cross; the word "Easter" was dropped in the 1980s. After the cross was challenged in court during the late 1980s, it was designated a Korean War memorial. It became the center of a controversy over the display of religious symbols on government property.
  It was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in January 2011.
  On June 25, 2012, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari, allowing the order of the Ninth Circuit to stand.
  In July 2015, a group called the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association reported that it had bought the half-acre of land under the cross from the Department of Defense for $1.4 million. On September 7, 2016 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a one-page ruling, ordering dismissal of the case and an end to all current appeals, stating that the case was now moot because the cross was no longer on government land. Both sides agreed that this decision puts a final end to the case.
caption: Restoration of the cross in 2008
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