• A public park in Utah that includes a monument to the Ten Commandments need not make room for a similar monument reflecting the beliefs of an unusual religion called Summum, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.
Permanent monuments in public parks are not subject to the free-speech analysis that applies to speeches and leaflets in public forums, the court ruled. Instead, Justice Samuel Alito wrote for eight justices, such monuments are “best viewed as a form of government speech.”
Since the government is free to say what it likes, Alito said, the Summum church’s right to free speech under the First Amendment was not violated by the rejection of its monument by Pleasant Grove City, Utah.
• A congressional resolution apologizing for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 does not strip the state of its authority to sell or transfer any of about 1.2 million acres of land, Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Bennett and Kannon K. Shanmugam, representing the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, argued opposing sides in the appeal of a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling. That ruling blocked the sale of land conveyed to the state when Hawaii became the 50th state. Many native Hawaiians remain frustrated over how their islands were taken and divvied up by outsiders.
A decision in the case is not expected until June.
