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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Society of Separationists has asked to drop its lawsuit to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a Pleasant Grove park, but retain the right to raise the issue again.
Edward White, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center, who is representing the city, asked U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins to dismiss the case with prejudice, which usually bars any future action.
Jenkins took the issue under consideration Thursday.
Attorney Brian Barnard said that although his clients, the Society of Separationists and two individuals, have decided not to pursue the case, they are not conceding that the monument is constitutional.
He said outside court that they might want to reopen the case later in state court if there are any violations of the Utah Constitution's establishment clause, which forbids aiding one religion over another, he said outside court.
During the hearing, Jenkins noted that Barnard is representing the religious group Summum, which wants to erect next to the Ten Commandments monument a monument of its own, espousing its Seven Aphorisms.
Jenkins asked Barnard if he had a conflict representing the two groups. The judge said that if one failed, the other seemed to prevail.
Barnard said he did not feel comfortable revealing conversations with his clients but did say he had consulted with both groups about the respective suits.
Asked outside court why his clients decided to drop their lawsuit, Barnard said, "We have bigger fish to fry," and indicated that a U.S. Supreme Court last year had changed the legal landscape.
In June, the high court said framed copies of the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky courthouse violated the separation of church and state because they promoted religion, but a monument at the Texas state Capitol could stay because it was one of about 40 markers and monuments and had a secular and historical purpose.
At the Pleasant Grove park, the Ten Commandments display is one of many monuments.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
