United States Ninth Circuit

In an action claiming that defendant-city's display of a six-foot tall granite monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the city hall violated state and federal constitutional Establishment Clauses, summary judgment for the city is affirmed where: 1) the circuit court finds that a limited exception to the Lemon test exists in contexts closely analogous to those in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677 (2005); and 2) this case presents such a closely analogous context that Van Orden controls, and the display at issue does not violate the Establishment Clauses.

Appellate Information

• Argued 07/11/2007
• Decided 03/26/2008
• Published 03/26/2008

Judges

• Before:  ARTHUR L. ALARCÓN, FERDINAND F. FERNANDEZ, and KIM McLANE WARDLAW, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Marc D. Slonim of Ziontz, Chestnut, Varnell, Berley & Slonim, Seattle, WA, for the plaintiff-appellant., David H. Remes and Benjamin C. Block of Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., for the plaintiff-appellant., Ayesha Khan of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Washington, D.C., for the plaintiff-appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Stephen A. Smith (argued), Michael K. Ryan and Fredric C. Tausend, K&L Gates LLP, Seattle, WA, for defendants-appellees., Steven W. Fitschen of The National Legal Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA, for amicus curiae in support of the defendants-appellees.