10th Circuit Upholds Land Sale By City To Mormon Church

On October 3, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decided Utah Gospel Mission v. Salt Lake City Corp. The case involved the 1999 sale by Salt Lake city of a block-long section of Main Street to the Mormon Church so it could build a Plaza on it. The Plaza was to serve as an ecclesiastical park. The city hoped the Plaza would stimulate downtown pedestrian traffic and promote business. The Church prohibited demonstrations, leafleting and picketing on the Plaza. The sale was challenged on free expression and establishment clause grounds, and the court rejected both challenges. It found that the arrangements had a secular purpose , did not have a primary effect that advanced religion, and did not create excessive entanglement between church and state.