Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/justices-side-with-navy-in-sonar-dispute-hear-religious-monument-case Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday to lift restrictions on use of sonar in U.S. Navy training exercises off the California coast. Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal discusses the decision plus arguments in a church and state separation case. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. RAY SUAREZ: Now, two cases at the Supreme Court. The first, an argument over religion and the First Amendment; the second, a decision in a major environmental case.For more on both, I'm joined by NewsHour regular Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal.The first involving religion and display in public parks, what's the conflict at the heart of this case? MARCIA COYLE, National Law Journal: Fascinating case. Pleasant Grove is a city in Utah of about 31,000 residents, predominantly Mormon. They have a municipal park, Pioneer Park, that includes a number of historic buildings, monuments, including a monument to the Ten Commandments, gardens that the city says reflects the city's historical and cultural heritage.Summum Church is a small, very small group of people who say they do not have a particular dogma, but they believe in what they call seven aphorisms or seven principles of creation that they feel has a tie to the Ten Commandments.They said that those seven principles were set out on the first tablets given to Moses on Mount Sinai. He destroyed it, went back up to the top of Mount Sinai, came back with the Ten Commandments.In 2003, the church asked the city if it could erect a monument to the seven aphorisms in the municipal park. The city said no, that it wasn't in keeping with the historical cultural heritage. Summum sued, saying the city was violating its free speech rights under the First Amendment.The lower federal appellate court agreed with the city — agreed with Summum, I'm sorry, and the city is now before the Supreme Court.