U.S. Supreme Court sides with Pleasant Grove

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that Pleasant Grove cannot be forced to place a Salt Lake City-based religious sect's "Seven Aphorisms of Summum" in its park, even though the city already displays other religious monuments like the Ten Commandments.

But an attorney for Summum told the Deseret News the fight was not over.

"We still have a trial in front of us, and the case is now morphed into an Establishment Clause claim," said civil rights attorney Brian Barnard, referring to an aspect of the First Amendment prohibiting government from adopting a national religion.

"In order to protect themselves from free speech claim, they said it's 'government speech.' OK, you've painted yourself into a corner. If it's your speech, now we have a problem because you just adopted the Ten Commandments as your speech, and you're telling us you won't adopt the aphorisms as your speech."

Barnard said the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling was limited in its scope, and there is still another aspect of Summum's lawsuit still pending in federal court in Salt Lake City.

The ruling handed down early Wednesday sides with Pleasant Grove, which has several privately donated displays in Pioneer Park. They include a monument to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a stone from the first LDS temple in Nauvoo, a historic granary, a wishing well and a Ten Commandments display.

In 2003, Summum sought to place its "Seven Aphorisms," which outline the sect's philosophy, in the park. It was rejected at first because the city claimed that only displays that "either directly relate to the history of Pleasant Grove or were donated by groups with long-standing ties to the Pleasant Grove community." The following year, the City Council passed a resolution putting it in writing.

Summum tried again in 2005 and was rejected. Summum's subsequent lawsuit argued the city couldn't allow some displays in a public park and reject others without violating the First Amendment. A federal appeals court in Denver agreed, saying parks are traditionally public forums and ordering the city to erect the Seven Aphorisms.

Pleasant Grove appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the unanimous opinion, Justice Samuel Alito said "it is clear that the monuments in Pleasant Grove's Pioneer Park represent government speech."

Alito distinguished between efforts to prevent groups from exercising their First Amendment right to free speech in a public park and Summum's claim that it is not given equal access to placing a monument in the park.