Two Cities Appeal Rulings on Religious Monuments

May 7, 2007

Author: Pamela Manson

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5835264

In the 121 years since the French gave the United States the Statue of Liberty, nobody has demanded a competing statue supporting tyranny.

So nobody should be able to demand that competing structures be erected next to monuments of the Ten Commandments that were gifted to Pleasant Grove and Duchesne, the cities' attorneys say.

That argument is outlined in appeals of two decisions issued April 17 by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that parks are public forums and that followers of the Summum faith have a right to display their Seven Aphorisms next to the Ten Commandments.

A three-judge panel of the court said Pleasant Grove and Duchesne must allow the religious organization to put up its own monuments and the only way around that is to take down the Ten Commandments.

Salt Lake City civil rights attorney Brian Barnard, who represents Summum, said the 10th Circuit rulings are based on simple fairness.

"If a city allows one religious monument in a municipal park, the city must allow all religious monuments," Barnard said. "A city government cannot determine one set of beliefs is worthy of display and the next set is not."