Philip K. Paulson

Who was Philip K. Paulson?

Philip Kevin Paulson was a U.S. Army combat veteran of the Vietnam War who, as an atheist, was the lead plaintiff in a series of lawsuits to remove a Christian cross from a prominent summit in the city of San Diego. He spent seventeen years, starting with a pro se action against the city, then as lead plaintiff, in multiple successful federal court challenges to remove the 43-foot high cross from this government owned land. Although removal was favored by successive court rulings, various tactics, including referendums, appeals and finally removing the underlying land to federal ownership prevented removing the cross. On June 25, 2012, The Supreme Court, by denying certiorari, affirmed an appeals court decision that determined that the cross of Mount Soledad was unconstitutional.