Dueling Supreme Court Rock Citations: First Dylan, Now Lennon
The losing religious group in a public monument case before the U.S. Supreme Court advances Seven Aphorisms, one of which holds, “Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.”
Perhaps the group known as Summum should add something to its aphorism about rocking, as in rock ‘n’ roll.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. showed off his rock knowledge by quoting the John Lennon song “Imagine” in a unanimous decision (PDF) today refusing to force a Utah park to display a Summum monument to the aphorisms. Alito rejected a claim by the Summum group that the First Amendment’s free speech clause required Pleasant Grove City, Utah, to accepted its monument since the town displayed the Ten Commandments.
Alito referred to the song to explain how monuments—and music—can convey more than one message.
He is not the first justice to cite rock music in a legal opinion. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. cited Bob Dylan in a dissent last June to a case involving a suit filed against AT&T. The former chief justice, William H. Rehnquist, on the other hand, favored citations to Gilbert & Sullivan.
The Summum group did not press an establishment clause claim and Alito did not rule on that issue. He did acknowledge, though, that governments may use monuments as a subterfuge to favor the views of some private speakers over others, the Associated Press reports.
Alito viewed the park monuments as government speech not subject to the free speech clause, even absent an explicit resolution accepting the message. He wrote that the words on public display can convey multiple messages.
“The meaning conveyed by a monument is generally not a simple one like ‘Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner,’ ” Alito wrote.
“What, for example, is ‘the message’ of the Greco-Roman mosaic of the word ‘Imagine’ that was donated to New York City’s Central Park in memory of John Lennon?” Alito wrote. “Some observers may ‘imagine’ the musical contributions that John Lennon would have made if he had not been killed. Others may think of the lyrics of the Lennon song that obviously inspired the mosaic and may ‘imagine’ a world without religion, countries, possessions, greed or hunger.”
Alito provides a footnote with the lyrics for readers who are not so musically inclined.
The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times noted Alito’s rock citation and said he also managed to work in a number of references to Central Park.
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