Satawa v. Macomb County Road Comm'n, No. 11-1612 (6th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseAfter a private citizen placed a creche on a sixty-foot-wide median at Christmas time. Macomb County ordered the creche removed. The Thomas More Law Center applied for a formal permit to display the creche. The County denied the permit, stating that it violated the Establishment Cause of the First Amendment. The citizen filed suit, claiming the denial of the permit violated his free-speech rights, the Establishment Clause, and his equal-protection rights. During litigation, the County changed its explanation for denying the citizen's permit, claiming that safety was the reason for its decision. The district court granted summary judgment for the County. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment on the citizen's Establishment Clause claim but reversed on all other grounds, holding that the district court erred by granting summary judgment to the County on the citizen's free-speech and equal-protection claims.
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