home > newsroom Tenth Circuit Court to Hear Arguments Regarding the Constitutionality of the Main Street Plaza Restrictions FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 14, 2002 SALT LAKE CITY--On Monday, March 18 at 9:00 a.m., the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado will hear oral arguments in the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah’s case challenging the Main Street plaza restrictions. At issue is whether there are any limits on the government’s ability to strip a public forum of its protected First Amendment status. The case stems from Salt Lake City’s sale of one block of downtown Main Street to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the city sold the property, it retained an easement guaranteeing public access and passage 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The ACLU argues the city overstepped its constitutional authority when it agreed to allow the church to condition enjoyment of that public easement on conformity with the church’s views on religious, political, and moral issues. In its appeal, the ACLU relies on longstanding Supreme Court law upholding the public’s right to engage in free speech activities on private property that serves as a public thoroughfare. Most recently, in a case brought against the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas by the ACLU of Nevada and others, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals considered a set of circumstances nearly identical to those involved in the Main Street sale. Last July, the Ninth Circuit ruled that a private plaza connecting the public sidewalks on either side of the casino’s property and open to pedestrian traffic is still a public forum. Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal brought by the Venetian Casino. Of Monday’s hearing, Clark stated: “We are confident that once the Tenth Circuit reviews the facts and considers our arguments, it will recognize that the plaza is a public thoroughfare and is therefore subject to the same constitutional protections that the Ninth Circuit and other courts have extended to public forums.” Plaintiffs for the case are the First Unitarian Church, the Utah National Organization for Women, and Utahns for Fairness, and Craig Axford. --end--

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