The US Supreme Court ruled early last year that monuments in the town of Pleasant Grove, Utah may be chosen by government officials because it amounts to government speech. But many observers believed that logic may have left a strong church-state challenge from the Summum, a minority faith that has been trying to erect a monument to their Seven Aphorisms alongside the one currently honoring the Ten Commandments. As the Baptist Joint Committee's Brent Walker said of the ruling: "The court's decision expressly leaves the door open to a future Establishment Clause claim against the city."
Not so, said a district court yesterday, in denying the most recent request on church-state grounds. The Deseret News has more:
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the city that claimed it violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing a Ten Commandments monument but rejecting one showing the Salt Lake-based religious sect's beliefs. The clause in the First Amendment prohibits government from adopting a national religion.
Pleasant Grove built the monument in Pioneer Park 39 years ago for historical, not religious, reasons, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball wrote. "Moreover, there is no evidence that anyone in Pleasant Grove government had any idea what Summum's religious beliefs were, and thus it cannot be said that the Pleasant Grove government demonstrated a preference for one religion over another."
The decision effectively ends for now a prolonged legal battle, part of which was fought in the U.S. Supreme Court. Kimball dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning Summum could file a claim in state court.
