United States Tenth Circuit

Defendant-City's sale of an easement, which eliminated any right of public access to parts of the downtown area, did not violate the First Amendment where it did not advance or endorse religion since the sale was in exchange for adequate consideration.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/04/2005
• Published 10/04/2005

Judges

• KELLY, Circuit Judge., Before KELLY, BRISCOE, and LUCERO, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Mark J. Lopez,(Sharon McGowan, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Inc. and Margaret Plane, American Civil Liberties Union of Utah Foundation, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, on the brief), New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellants., L. Martin Nussbaum and Eric V. Hall, Rothgerber, Johnson & Lyons, L.L.P., Colorado Springs, CO, for Association of Christian Schools International, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Colorado Catholic Conference, Community of Christ, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, First Church of Christ Scientist, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, General Council on Finance and Administration of the United Methodist Church, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Islamic Society of Colorado Springs, National Association of Evangelicals, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, Rocky Mountain District of the Desert-Mountain Conference of the Fifth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Worldwide, and Net-Churches Serving Together, as Amici Curiae., Maxwell A. Miller, Parsons, Behle & Latimer, Salt Lake City, UT, for Sutherland Institute, the Utah Taxpayers Association, and the Utah Association of Realtors, as Amici Curiae., David Parkhurst, National League of Cities, Gene C. Schaerr and Ryan D. Nelson, Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood, L.L.P, and Henry W. Underhill, Jr. and Lani L. Williams, International Municipal Lawyers Association, Washington, DC, for National League of Cities, International Municipal Lawyers Association, National Association of Counties, and U.S. Conference of Mayors, as Amici Curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Steven W. Allred (and Boyd A. Ferguson, Assistant City Attorney, on the brief), Salt Lake City, UT, for Defendants-Appellees., Alan L. Sullivan and James D. Gardner, Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P. and Von G. Keetchand Alexander Dushku, Kirton & McConkie, on the brief, Salt Lake City, UT, for Defendant-Appellee Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.