Pleasant Grove, commonly referred to as “Utah’s City of Trees”, is a municipal of approximately 34,000 people. It is located in Utah County, and is host to Strawberry Days, a unique summer festival and the oldest community celebration in Utah to date.
In November 2008, a lawsuit arising out of Pleasant Grove reached the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Pleasant Grove City v. Summum. The Church of Summum alleged that Pleasant Grove violated their First Amendment rights when the city refused to erect the church’s statue on public property, despite the city allowing other privately donated monuments to be displayed on public property, including a statue of the Ten Commandments.
On February 25, 2009, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against Summum, holding that Pleasant Grove’s actions were not an unconstitutional interference with Summum’s right to free speech. According to the Court, a permanent monument on public property is perceived as an expression of values and ideas of the government, who is the owner of the park and the monument, not of the church who donated the monument.
It is a rare occurrence for any case to ever reach the United States Supreme Court, for the vast majority of cases are resolved within the lower courts. Legal action arising out of Pleasant Grove is typically adjudicated by the Fourth District Court, which presides over all of Utah County as well as Juab, Millard, and Wasatch Counties. The District Court hears cases involving felonies, misdemeanors, domestic relations, and civil cases. The District Court includes a Juvenile Court subdivision, which hears matters such as adoption, delinquency, and emancipation. The Pleasant Grove Justice Court is a local court that handles class B and C misdemeanors, traffic and other ordinance violations, and small claims.
There are multiple courts within the Fourth District, and much overlap of jurisdiction between the District Courts, Juvenile Courts, and Justice Court. Thus it is important to hire an attorney to file your case in a forum most favorable to you. There are many attorneys practicing in the Pleasant Grove area who are familiar with this court system. While locating attorneys near you may be as simple as looking in a phone book, finding one that you are comfortable with, who specializes in your legal issue, within your price range, is difficult and often daunting. LegalMatch is designed to ease the burden of selecting a lawyer and can help you find the one who is right to take your case.
For more legal resources in and around the Pleasant Grove area, please visit the following websites: