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Pleasant Grove City, Utah v. Summum

Supreme Court of the United States · 2009 · Constitutional Law

Constitutional LawFirst AmendmentFree Speech ClauseGovernment SpeechPublic Forumgovernment speechpublic forumtraditional public forum

Facts

Pleasant Grove City's Pioneer Park is a public park containing 15 permanent displays, at least 11 of which were donated by private groups or individuals, including a Ten Commandments monument donated in 1971. Summum, a religious organization, asked the City several times for permission to erect a stone monument displaying its Seven Aphorisms, similar in size and nature to the Ten Commandments monument. The City denied the requests, explaining that its practice was to limit park monuments to those directly related to the City's history or donated by groups with longstanding ties to the community, and later put that policy and additional criteria such as safety and aesthetics into writing. Summum then brought a First Amendment free speech challenge based on the City's acceptance of one donated monument and rejection of the other.

Issue

Does the Free Speech Clause entitle a private group to require a municipality to permit it to place a permanent monument in a public park because other privately donated monuments have already been installed there? More specifically, is the placement of a permanent monument in a public park private speech in a public forum or government speech?

Rule

The placement of a permanent monument in a public park is ordinarily government speech, even when the monument is privately financed and donated, if the government accepts and displays it on public land while retaining final approval authority over selection. Because the Free Speech Clause restricts government regulation of private speech but does not regulate government speech, such decisions are not subject to Free Speech Clause forum analysis.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

The city of Boise maintains a downtown public park containing several permanent sculptures, most of which were donated by local civic groups. The city council reviews all proposed monuments, votes on whether each fits the park's aesthetic and historical themes, and takes title to any monument it accepts. A philosophical association demands that Boise install its granite monument because the park is a public forum.

If the association sues under the Free Speech Clause, which is the strongest argument for Boise?

Explanation. Permanent monuments displayed on public property are typically government speech. That remains true when the monuments are privately financed or donated, so long as the government accepts them for display and effectively controls the message through final approval authority over selection. In that situation, Free Speech Clause forum analysis does not apply. The majority specifically rejected any requirement that the government formally adopt the monument's exact message.