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By Kent Larsen
ACLU Asks Appeals Court to Overturn Main Street Ruling
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Claiming US District Judge Ted Stewart's
ruling on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Main
Street Plaza is in error, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an
appeal today with the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
After filing the appeal, the ACLU's Utah legal director Stephen Clark
said today that Main Street "is a symbol of community central to the
'marketplace of ideas' that has played such a critical role in our
nation's history," and added that the sale of the property to the LDS
Church should have preserved the block's status as a public forum.
The appeal, filed on behalf of Salt Lake City's First Unitarian
Church, Utahns for Fairness and the National Organization for Women,
comes after Judge Stewart finally issued a written ruling May 4th,
four months after he ruled in court. That ruling, given from the
bench on January 2nd, said that the sale of the block made it private
property, and that the US Constitution's 1st amendment right of free
speech doesn't extend to private property. "There is no longer a main
street, or any street on the property," the judge wrote. "Instead,
there is an ecclesiastic park, a destination in and of itself."
The dispute arose after the city and the LDS Church reached an
agreement for the sale of the one-block-long stretch of Main street
to the Church for $8.1 million. As part of the sale, the Church and
the city agreed to place an easement on the property, ensuring public
access to the resulting plaza 24 hours a day, but also prohibiting
smoking, sunbathing, bicycling and engaging in "offensive, indecent,
obscene, vulgar, lewd or disorderly speech, dress or conduct."
The First Unitarian Church's Rev. Tom Goldsmith objects to the grant
of restrictions, "Now that the city has sold Main Street and allowed
the new owner to silence and banish anyone who might offer an
alternative voice or experience, we feel as though we are welcome
here only so long as we are neither seen nor heard," Goldsmith said.
But city attorney Roger Cutler says he is surprised to see the
appeal. "I thought Judge Stewart's ruling was thorough and
well-reasoned," he said. He believes the appeal has little chance of
succeeding.
Sources:
The ACLU appeals Main Street ruling
Deseret News 4Jun01 T1
By Maria Titze: Deseret News staff writer
Lawyer says role of 'public forum' needs protection
ACLU Appeals Ruling on Mormon Park
Washington Post (AP) 4Jun01 T1
The Associated Press
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