{"id":97,"date":"2008-11-19T11:37:04","date_gmt":"2008-11-19T11:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2008\/11\/government-can-craft-its-own-m.html"},"modified":"2008-11-19T11:37:04","modified_gmt":"2008-11-19T11:37:04","slug":"government-can-craft-its-own-m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2008\/11\/government-can-craft-its-own-m.html","title":{"rendered":"Government Can Craft Its Own Message"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry, the reason that you had “many moments of doubt” during the argument is that the Pleasant Grove City v. Summum<\/i> case is about the meaning of a different<\/i> provision of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.”<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

This case deals with the government’s authority to craft its own message and, as you recognize, “[w]hen government ‘speaks’ about best presidents or embraces the principle of liberty, it has every right to reject alternative views.” Here, Pleasant Grove owns and displays a variety of artifacts, monuments, etc. in its Pioneer Park that have historical relevance to the community or were donated by groups or individuals that have longstanding ties to the community. Among these is a Ten Commandments monument donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles almost 40 years ago that, in the Mayor’s words, would “remind citizens of their pioneer heritage in the founding of the state.” By contrast, Summum has acknowledged that it has no ties to the community and its proposed monument has no historical relevance to the community. It is undisputed that the criteria used to accept or reject monuments are unrelated to any religious doctrine.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

In short, this case is about whether private parties can require the government to alter its message, and it sounds like you agree with our position on that point. There is no First Amendment Establishment Clause claim in this case (which would be inconsistent with Summum’s Free Speech claim) but, in any event, a hypothetical claim would be similar to the one that the Court rejected a few years ago in Van Orden v. Perry<\/i>, 545 U.S. 677 (2005) (plurality). It does not violate the Establishment Clause for the government to include the Ten Commandments among other historically relevant monuments, artifacts, pictures, plaques, etc. for a secular reason such as “remind[ing] citizens of their pioneer heritage in the founding of the state.”<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barry, the reason that you had “many moments of doubt” during the argument is that the Pleasant Grove City v. Summum case is about the meaning of a different provision of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.”   This case deals with the government’s authority…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-courts","category-separation-of-church-and-state"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment Can Craft Its Own Message - Lynn v. Sekulow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2008\/11\/government-can-craft-its-own-m.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government Can Craft Its Own Message - Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barry, the reason that you had “many moments of doubt” during the argument is that the Pleasant Grove City v. Summum case is about the meaning of a different provision of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.”   This case deals with the government’s authority…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2008\/11\/government-can-craft-its-own-m.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-11-19T11:37:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jay Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Government Can Craft Its Own Message - Lynn v. 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Jay Sekulow has also served as a faculty member for the Office of Legal Education at the United States Department of Justice.  As a member of the faculty he instructed Assistant United States Attorneys and investigators in the First Amendment issues associated with prosecution of obscenity. An accomplished and respected judicial advocate, Sekulow has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous cases in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several landmark cases argued by Sekulow before the U.S. Supreme Court have become part of the legal landscape in the area of religious liberty litigation.  In the Mergens case, Sekulow cleared the way for public school students to form Bible clubs and religious organizations on their school campuses.  In the Lamb's Chapel case, Sekulow defended the free speech rights of religious groups, ensuring that they be treated equally with respect to the use of public facilities.  And, most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, Sekulow ensured that the constitutional rights of young people remain protected with a unanimous decision by the high court guaranteeing that minors can participate in political campaigns. A nationally recognized and respected defender of religious freedom, Sekulow has assembled one of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.  Founded in 1990, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses in constitutional law.  The ACLJ, under Sekulow's direction, is involved in public interest and public policy issues working to protect religious and constitutional liberties. In 2007, the Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has \"led the way\" in Christian legal advocacy.  In 2005, TIME Magazine named Sekulow one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America and called the ACLJ \"a powerful counterweight\" to the ACLU.  Business Week said the ACLJ is \"the leading advocacy group for religious freedom.\"  Sekulow's work on the issue of judicial nominees - including possible vacancies at the Supreme Court - has received extensive news coverage including a front page story in The Wall Street Journal.  In addition, The National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \"100 Most Influential Lawyers\" in the United States (1994, 1997).  He is also among a distinguished group of attorneys known as \"The Public Sector 45\" named by The American Lawyer (January\/February 1997).  The magazine said the designation represents \"45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.\" Sekulow brings insight and education to listeners daily with his national call-in radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!, which is broadcast throughout the country on nearly 850 radio stations.  Sekulow also hosts a weekly television program, ACLJ This Week, which tackles the tough issues of the day and is broadcast on a number of networks nationwide including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and FamilyNet.  Sekulow is also a popular guest on nationally televised news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.  He frequently contributes articles and commentary to national publications and is often quoted in the nation's leading newspapers including USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times. A graduate of Mercer University, Sekulow graduated cum laude receiving both a bachelor's degree and doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer University where he served on the Mercer Law Review as an editorial staff member.  Following graduation, Sekulow served as a tax trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service.  In that capacity, Sekulow prepared and brought to trial tax cases on behalf of the United States Department of Treasury in United States Tax Court. He also received a Ph.D. from Regent University, with a dissertation on American Legal History, and is the author of numerous publications and law articles. Sekulow serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/jsekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}