PLEASANT GROVE CITY, UTAH et al. v. SUMMUM
Supreme Court Cases
555 U.S. 460 (2009)
Case Overview
Action
Reversed. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.
Facts/Syllabus
Pioneer Park (Park), a public park in petitioner Pleasant Grove City (City), has at least 11 permanent, privately donated displays, including a Ten Commandments monument. In rejecting the request of respondent Summum, a religious organization, to erect a monument containing the Seven Aphorisms of Summum, the City explained that it limited Park monuments to those either directly related to the City鈥檚 history or donated by groups with longstanding community ties. After the City put that policy and other criteria into writing, respondent renewed its request, but did not describe the monument鈥檚 historical significance or respondent鈥檚 connection to the community. The City rejected the request, and respondent filed suit, claiming that the City and petitioner officials had violated the First Amendment鈥檚 Free Speech Clause by accepting the Ten Commandments monument but rejecting respondent鈥檚 proposed monument. The District Court denied respondent鈥檚 preliminary injunction request, but the Tenth Circuit reversed. Noting that it had previously found the Ten Commandments monument to be private rather than government speech and that public parks have traditionally been regarded as public forums, the court held that, because the exclusion of the monument was unlikely to survive strict scrutiny, the City was required to erect it immediately.