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Constitutional Law Keyed to Choper
Pleasant Grove City v. Summum
Citation:
555 U.S. 460 (2009)Facts
Pioneer Park is a 2.5-acre public park located in the Historic District of Pleasant Grove City, Utah. The park contains 15 permanent displays, at least 11 of which were donated by private groups or individuals, including a Ten Commandments monument donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1971. In 2003, Summum, a religious organization, requested permission to erect a stone monument containing its “Seven Aphorisms” in the park. The City denied the request, explaining that its practice was to limit monuments to those directly related to the City’s history or donated by groups with longstanding community ties. In 2005, the City formalized this policy in a written resolution. Summum filed suit, claiming that the City violated the Free Speech Clause by accepting the Ten Commandments monument while rejecting its proposed Seven Aphorisms monument. The case ultimately reached the Supreme Court after the Tenth Circuit ruled in favor of Summum, holding that public parks are traditional public forums and that the City’s rejection of the monument was unlikely to survive strict scrutiny.
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