Posted by
Defend America on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 2:39:31 PM
This was the issue:
Issue: Whether, under the First Amendment, privately
donated monuments placed in a public park qualify as private or
government speech.
Some background:
In September 2003, the mayor of Pleasant Grove, Utah, received an
unusual letter from Summum “Corky” Ra, the leader of a little-known
religious organization based in Salt Lake City. As he had done in other
towns in Utah, Ra sought permission to erect a monument to the “Seven
Aphorisms of Summum” in a city park, alongside a depiction of the Ten
Commandments that had been donated to the city more than three decades
prior.
After city officials denied his request, Ra filed a suit
alleging a violation of the free speech clause of the First Amendment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit eventually agreed, finding the park to be a traditional public forum and the Ten Commandments monument to constitute the private speech of the original donor.
The ruling was 9-0 protecting government speech.
For more background information, you can go here:
http://www.scotuswiki.com/index.php?title=Pleasant_Grove_City%2C_UT_v._Summum
For the ruling and opinion, you can go here:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-665.pdf