Jun 23, 2008
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a friend-of-the-court brief today in the case of Pleasant Grove, Utah v. Summum, which is scheduled to be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court this fall.
At stake is the government’s right to pick which monuments – including those with religious statements - are placed on city property, without violating the Constitution’s protections of freedom of speech. Separation of church and state is not an issue in the case.
The Becket Fund’s brief urges the Court to hold that parks and other public property can become forums for long-term private speech protected by the First Amendment.
“The government can do what it wants with no-strings-attached donations like the Ten Commandments monument in Pleasant Grove,” said Eric Rassbach, National Litigation Director at the Becket Fund. “What it can’t do is invite members of the public to speak on public property and then turn off the microphone when they say something the government doesn’t like.”
In 2003, the Becket Fund represented Robert and Mildred Tong in a lawsuit against the Chicago Park District. The Tongs had participated in a buy-a-brick program for a local park, but the government censored their speech when they submitted a religious message directed towards their children. The Becket Fund won the lawsuit for the Tongs in 2004.
The Becket Fund’s brief today focuses on one thing - illustrated by the Tong case - arguing that the court should “emphasize that private speech, whether short-term or long-term, is not subject to government censorship."
Summum is a New Age religious and philosophical organization founded in 1975. Summum teaches seven principles it claims are the same as Gnostic Christianity.
On the principle that if the Ten Commandments are allowed, Summum’s principles should get equal space, Summum asked several Utah cities to place their principles in public parks. Rather than becoming embroiled in costly litigation, most removed the Ten Commandments monuments.
Pleasant Grove refused and the case went to the Tenth Circuit in Denver. There the court decided, based on the legal principle of “free speech” in favor of Summum.
Click here for the pdf of the Becket Fund amicus brief in support of Pleasant Grove.
The Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a nonpartisan, interfaith, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions.
To arrange an interview with a Becket Fund attorney, contact Tom Carter at 202-349-7205, or 202-538-2044 (cell) or becketfund.carter@gmail.com.
For more information about The Becket Fund visit www.becketfund.org.