the case on June 25, 2012. Justice Alito wrote in a personal statement that explained the rejection because the remedy of return to District court for compromise solution had not been attempted. This left the 9th Circuit Court ruling in place, and the issue was returned to federal court for resolution. In December 2013, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns ordered that the cross be removed within 90 days, but stayed the order pending a forthcoming appeal by the government. On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court denied certiorari before judgement. Justice Samuel Alito stated in a personal statement that certiorari was not yet warranted because the appeal of Judge Burns' order has not yet been heard by the Court of Appeals. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 contained a provision making space available for the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial. Sale to Mt. Soledad Memorial Association On July 20, 2015, a group called the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association reported that it had bought the land under the cross from the Dept. of Defense for $1.4 million. On September 7, 2016 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 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. An ACLU spokesman said, "I think this now resolves the case. The government doesn't own the cross or the land underneath it any more. The government is no longer in the business of endorsing religion." Legal challenges timeline May 31, 1989: Philip Paulson sues the City of San Diego to remove the Soledad Cross December 3, 1991: United States District Court for the Southern District of California, ruled in favor Paulson June 2, 1992: San Diego voters approved Proposition F, which allowed sale of the cross to a non-profit corporation September 18, 1997, Judge Thompson ruled that the sale violated the California Constitution 1998: the City attempted to sell the land to a private group again 2000: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the City's sale of the cross violated the California Constitution 2003: the Supreme Court denied defendants' petitions for review November 2004: voters rejected a ballot measure to authorize a third sale of the land July 26, 2005: voters approve Proposition A, a