Federal Court Upholds Ban on SM Park Displays

A federal appeals court today unanimously upheld a Santa Monica law that ended the decades-long tradition of displaying Nativity scenes every December in Palisades Park.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the ordinance, which banned all unattended displays in public parks, did not violate the free speech rights of the Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee, the organizer of the displays.