A federal appeals court has ruled that a mountaintop cross in San Diego is unconstitutional but that it might be possible to modify the landmark to keep it part of a war memorial.

The ruling, by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, overturns a lower-court decision in the 20-year legal dispute over the 29-foot-tall cross atop Mount Soledad, on land Congress ceded to the Pentagon in 2006, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

"The Memorial, presently configured and as a whole, primarily conveys a message of government endorsement of religion that violates the establishment clause," wrote Judge M. Margaret McKeown, a Clinton appointee, whose chambers are not far from the cross. She added, however, that the ruling "does not mean that the Memorial could not be modified to pass constitutional muster, nor does it mean that no cross can be part of this veterans' memorial. We take no position on those issues."

More here from our colleagues at Faith & Reason.

The case was filed by the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America and several individuals.

Read the complete decision.

(Posted by Michael Winter)