October 15, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Mayor Rocky Anderson is looking for
a way to honor the city's $8.1 million deal with The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now that an appellate
court has thrown out agreed-upon restrictions on speech and
behavior in the Main Street plaza.
Anderson said Monday he would convene a group of nine advisers,
including current and former city officials, ethicists and
religious leaders, in a closed-door meeting Tuesday to discuss
legal and ethical options of resolving the dilemma.
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"I need to decide what the best ethical result is, given that
one of the parties to this transaction did not get the benefit of
its bargain," Anderson said.
The Church bought the lot from the city in April 1999 for
$8.1 million. The City Council approved the sale, along with
an easement that gave the public 24-hour access but also gave
the Church the power to restrict behavior and speech there.
The Church made significant improvements to the block,
transforming it into a plaza with fountains and flowers. It also
outlawed smoking, sunbathing, bicycling and "engaging in any
illegal, offensive, indecent, obscene, vulgar, lewd or disorderly
speech, dress or conduct."
The Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sued over
the free-speech restrictions. U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart
earlier ruled against the plaintiffs.
On Wednesday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver
held that Main Street plaza sidewalks are traditional public
spaces. The court said that restricting free speech on sidewalks,
even those owned by the Church, is unconstitutional.
The city couldn't create a "First Amendment-free zone,"
despite what it had promised in the sale deal, the three-judge
panel ruled.
The Church has decided to appeal. Anderson said the city
wouldn't join in the appeal, which he said "would be fruitless and
a greater waste of taxpayers' money.
"Also, to continue this in the courts only means that there is
going to be a winner and a loser," and that would contribute to
hard feelings and divisiveness, he said.
The mayor said he was concerned about "a barrage of protesters
-- some who ridicule the beliefs of church members, sometimes in
rude and offensive ways."
The plaza has drawn protesters such as Kurt Van Gorden, a
Baptist minister who drove all night from his home in Victorville,
Calif., to be on the plaza the day after the court issued its
ruling. Van Gorden has been arrested twice on the plaza for handing
out religious pamphlets for the Utah Gospel Mission.
Other evangelists routinely turn out at the Church's General
Conference semiannual sessions, where they stand on public
sidewalks to wave derogatory signs and shout at church members as
they enter the conference center.
The panel members will look at so-called time, manner and place
restrictions that cities routinely invoke in public places, such as
prohibiting dogs, alcohol or skateboarding.
They also will examine the ethics of not honoring a deal
struck by a previous administration even though the court
has invalidated it. One possible compromise would be a contractual
agreement where the city would no longer own the easement
but the Church would allow perpetual access by the public.
"The deal, whether you agree or disagree with it, was made,"
said Anderson, who said he never liked it. "But at the same time,
as mayor I shouldn't be imposing my personal views."
The Church "made it very clear that without the restrictions,
they wouldn't have done the deal," he said.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
