Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, et al. v. Vincent J. Pinette, Donnie A. Carr and Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (515 U.S. 753)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 29, 1995 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 515 U.S. 753 · 115 S. Ct. 2440
- Decided
- June 29, 1995
- Term
- October Term 1994
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia announced the judgment of the Court and delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II, and III, and an opinion with respect to Part IV, in which The Chief Justice, Justice Kennedy, and Justice Thomas join. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, made binding upon the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides that government “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The question in this case is whether a State violates the Establishment Clause when, pursuant to a religiously neutral state policy, it permits a private party to display an unattended religious symbol in a traditional public forum located next to its seat of government. I Capitol Square is a 10-acre, state-owned plaza surrounding the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. For over a century the square has been used for public speeches, gatherings, and festivals advocating and celebrating a variety of causes, both secular and religious. Ohio Admin. Code Ann. §128-4-02(A) (1994) makes the square available “for use by the public ... for free discussion of public questions, or for activities of a broad public purpose,” and Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 105.41 (1994), gives the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board (Board) responsibility for regulating public access. To use the square, a group must simply fill out an official application form and meet several…
Excerpt of a 26,937-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.