Buono

Plaintiffs claim that the presence of a Latin cross on federally-owned land in the Mojave National Preserve, which is managed by the National Park Service, violates the Establishment Clause. A Latin cross “has two arms, one horizontal and one vertical, at right angles to each other, with the horizontal arm being shorter than the vertical arm.” Buono v. Norton, 212 F.Supp.2d 1202, 1205 (C.D.Cal.2002). The *545 Latin cross “is the preeminent symbol of Christianity. It is exclusively a Christian symbol, and not a symbol of any other religion.” Id.; see also Ellis v. City of La Mesa, 990 F.2d 1518, 1527 (9th Cir.1993). The cross at issue is constructed of four-inch-diameter metal pipe and painted white. It sits in an area of the Preserve known as Sunrise Rock, adjacent to Cima Road, a secondary road roughly eleven miles from the 1-15 in San Bernardino County, California.

Plaintiffs sued the Secretary of the Interior, the Regional Director of the National Park Service and the Superintendent of the Preserve, seeking removal of the cross. The district court granted summary judgment for plaintiffs and enjoined defendants from allowing continued display of the cross. Defendants appeal. We…