From Deseret News archives:
Pleasant Grove under siege over 10 Commandments
2 organizations now have cases pending
On Friday, the two attorneys filed suit in U.S. District Court on behalf of the Summum religion, seeking a ruling allowing the religion's Seven Aphorisms to be displayed alongside the Ten Commandments.
Then on Monday, in a case where Barnard and Harris represent the Society of Separationists against Pleasant Grove, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for further proceedings a previous District Court ruling that had vindicated Pleasant Grove and permitted the city to continue displaying the Ten Commandments in a public park.
With Summum wanting its aphorisms displayed alongside the Ten Commandments and the Society of Separationists seeking the removal of Moses' famous Decalogue from a public park, Pleasant Grove is fighting on multiple fronts to maintain the Ten Commandments display as it is.
Pleasant Grove city attorney Christine Petersen declined to comment on either case Thursday.
The display in question is a stone monolith approximately five feet tall and three feet wide. The monument has been displayed in a Pleasant Grove public park since 1970.
This current brushfire of litigation was sparked by vague Supreme Court rulings in June that condone a Texas display of the Decalogue on the grounds that it was largely historical in nature but condemned Kentucky displays of the Ten Commandments for being foundationally religious.
In 1997 and 2002 the Summum religion successfully sued Salt Lake County and the city of Ogden in similar suits seeking to allow the Aphorisms to be shown alongside public displays of the Ten Commandments. Although Summum prevailed both times, the municipalities opted to bring down the Decalogue monuments rather than allow Summum to display its Aphorisms.
"Summum has contacted Pleasant Grove twice — in 2003, and again a couple of months ago — about being able to display their beliefs in the same manner as the Ten commandments," said Barnard, a graduate of Loyola (Cal.) Law School. "Both times, Pleasant Grove said no.
"With the two very similar cases that have already been decided by the 10th Circuit, I'm unsure why the city of Pleasant Grove thinks the law doesn't apply to them."
E-mail: jaskar@desnews.com
