Pleasant Grove Prevails in Summum “Seven Aphorisms” Monument Dispute

The United States Supreme Court, via Justice Samuel Alito in a unanimous decision, found that “it is clear that the monuments in Pleasant Grove’s Pioneer Park represent government speech.”  Summum’s lawsuit was an attempt to force Pleasant Grove City, Utah, to erect a monument containing its “seven aphorisms” and be given equal space with other monuments in the park, including a monument of the ten commandments, monument to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a stone from the first LDS temple in Nauvoo, a historic granary, and a wishing well.

I agree, the Supreme Court got this one right:

“In sum, we hold that the City’s decision to accept certain privately donated monuments while rejecting respondent’s is best viewed as a form of government speech. As a result, the City’s decision is not subject to the Free Speech Clause, and the Court of Appeals erred in holding other-wise.”

In other analysis, “the arguments embraced by Summum were not really the right way to look at the case. The core issue is not private speech in a public forum but, rather, the power of government to express itself, in this case by selecting which monuments to have in a public park . . . .”

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