Pleasant Grove City, Utah et al. v. Summum

Decided February 25, 2009. Samuel A. Alito Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 07-665 · 555 U.S. 460 (2009) · Cited 739 times

Holding

The placement of a permanent monument in a public park is a form of government speech and is therefore not subject to scrutiny under the Free Speech Clause.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Assn. · 544 U.S. 550 (2005)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth · 529 U.S. 217 (2000)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Garcetti v. Ceballos · 547 U.S. 410 (2006)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Good News Club v. Milford Central School · 533 U.S. 98 (2001)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Reynolds v. United States · 98 U.S. 145 (1879)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Keller v. State Bar of California · 496 U.S. 1 (1990)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Walker v. Texas Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. · 576 U.S. 200 (2015)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)
• American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. · 588 U.S. 29 (2019)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky · 585 U.S. 1 (2018)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins · 578 U.S. 330 (2016)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Thole v. U. S. Bank N. A. · 590 U.S. 538 (2020)
• National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo · 602 U.S. 175 (2024)
• TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez · 594 U.S. 413 (2021)
• Salazar v. Buono · 559 U.S. 700 (2010)
• Vidal v. Elster · 602 U.S. 286 (2024)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2009). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).