Ramona Ripston of the Little Portion"

The L.A. Daily News asks: 'L.A.'s name too divine?':

No L.A.? It's no joke.

A strong legal argument can be made that the name of the city of Los Angeles -- even worse its formal name, "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion" -- violates the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state.

Some constitutional law experts say the American Civil Liberties Union's campaign to remove a small cross from the Los Angeles County seal and similar efforts elsewhere in the country help build a foundation for challenges against communities like San Francisco, San Diego or Santa Barbara.

"That's absolutely right," said Joerg Knipprath, a professor of constitutional law at the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles...

ACLU spokesman Tenoch Flores said the organization only becomes involved in issues when contacted by people who believe there is a problem, and he doesn't expect anyone to challenge the name of Los Angeles or other communities.

"That has got to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Nobody is considering suing to change city names. If anybody were to bring such a suit, it would laughed out of court and rightfully so.

"We don't go around looking for things, but we certainly don't back down in the face of criticism if it's determined that a constitutional issue is at stake..."

Someone - perhaps me - should start an organization to push this forward...

Los_Angeles · Sun, 06/13/2004 - 19:44 · · Importance: 1

Comments

I always thought a town should bear truth to what it represents...

Hmm...how does RT sound? Red Tape.

Posted by: jay at Jun 14, 2004 6:59 AM

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