Suit not drafted for the media, ACLU says

The American Civil Liberties Union says Salt Lake City attorneys' claims that its Main Street Plaza lawsuit was drafted for the media are "irresponsible."

In response to Salt Lake City's motion to dismiss the ACLU's second plaza suit, ACLU attorneys admit in court documents filed Friday that the plaza complaint sometimes "states conclusions rather than facts" and uses "transition sentences to aid in the narrative." But the ACLU denies the suit was meant as a press release.

"What plaintiffs do not admit, and take exception to, is the defendants' irresponsible charge that this complaint was drafted for the media," the ACLU's response filed in U.S. District Court for Utah states.

"The defendants' charge against plaintiffs rings particularly hollow since Mayor (Rocky) Anderson has widely used the media to publicize the city's every action in the controversy over the Main Street Plaza."

In August the ACLU of Utah, with several plaintiffs, sued Anderson and the city over an agreement that gave the LDS Church a public easement through the Main Street Plaza in exchange for land where a community center is planned. The ACLU says the deal takes away constitutional guarantees of free expression on the plaza and was too favorable a deal for the LDS Church, thus violating the U.S. Constitution's establishment clause, which enforces the separation of church and state.

City attorneys filed motions two weeks ago asking federal Judge Dale Kimball to dismiss the ACLU's suit, because it didn't conform to court rules that ask for a initial complaint to be "short and plain." The ACLU's suit, instead, was a 50-page "dissertation for maximum media advantage" that included conclusions and hearsay, city attorneys argued. Also, city attorneys argued the mayor should be dropped from the suit.

Friday, ACLU attorneys fired back saying that city attorneys will have ample time in the future to contend against those "conclusions" and "hearsay" and that the complaint's language is not reason for dismissal. In short, ACLU attorneys said, city attorneys were upset that they were given too much information in the complaint, which hardly violates court rules.

Moreover, the ACLU argued Anderson "is the individual who is responsible for the alleged constitutional violations in this case" and should be included as a defendant in the suit.

The latest legal skirmish is not the first between the city and ACLU over the Main Street Plaza.

The initial lawsuit came after the city sold a block of Main Street to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1999 for $8.1 million. The church has since transformed the street into a plaza connecting Temple Square with the church's office building campus.