The Becket Fund FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Pleasant Grove v. Summum (2009)

Because a Utah city had chosen to include a Ten Commandments monument—along with other monuments—in its city park, a small religious group wanted to include its own religious monument in the same park, but was denied the permission to do so by the city.  Defending the city’s right to exclude the additional monument, the Becket Fund’s amicus brief argued that the city park displays were government—not private—speech, which meant that the city could legitimately decide which monuments to include and which to exclude.

Justice Alito’s majority opinion relied on reasoning similar to our briefing in ruling for the city: such government speech was not subject to scrutiny under the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause.

Additional Resources:

Becket Fund’s Supreme Court Amicus Brief

Supreme Court Opinion