Legal Beat

Utah Republican Sen. Orrin G. Hatch hailed today's unanimous Supreme Court ruling that religious monuments in a public park are a form of government speech, and thus not entitled to First Amendment protection against government regulation the way private speech is.

"While I am an avid supporter of free speech, I think it is simply absurd to argue that, when a city posts a monument or a message in a public place, the First Amendment requires them to accept any and all monuments offered for display," Hatch said.

The high court ruled in Pleasant Grove City, Utah, v. Summum that the city could not be forced to erect a religious monument in its 2.5-acre Pioneer Park. A monument to the Ten Commandments, donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, already stands in the park. A Utah-based Gnostic Christian sect, Summum, wanted to put a monument to the "Seven Aphorisms of Summum" in the park.

"While I don't doubt the sincerity of the members of the Summum church, I think the reason this case has received such national attention is because there are some people who have made it their life's ambition to remove any and all religious speech and symbols from the public sphere," Hatch said.