Duchesne and the church both are appealing U.S. District Judge Dee Benson's split decision in the 2003 federal lawsuit.

Summum sued Duchesne after the city denied the church's request to erect a monument enumerating the faith's Seven Aphorisms near a decades-old Ten Commandments monolith in Roy Park.

After the lawsuit was filed, city officials sold the plot where the Ten Commandments display stands to the family who originally donated the land in 1979, and the monolith is now in a fenced enclosure within the city-owned park.

Benson ruled that Duchesne had committed a "technical violation" of the First Amendment by disallowing the church's request with the land transfer, but he also denied the church's bid to force the city to allow its monument because the plot was now privately owned.

In the 30-minute hearing before a three-judge panel at the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Summum attorney Brian Barnard argued that city officials had violated the church's First Amendment rights by favoring one form of speech over another.

"It doesn't matter whether it's religious speech or not," he said.

But Duchesne attorney Frank Manion said that because the city no longer owns the land, it doesn't have the authority to allow displays on private property. "We're not dealing with a traditional public forum," he said.

Chief Judge Deanell Tacha told Manion that the Ten Commandments monolith is visible in the park even though it's on a privately owned plot. "We still have to decide if that park is a public forum," she said.

Tacha also said she had concerns about a precedent being set whereby government entities could be accused of "content discrimination" if they sell off public property in similar circumstances.

It could be several months before the appellate court issues its decision.

The Summum religion, founded in 1975, bases its beliefs on ancient Egyptian rituals, including mummification and sacramental wine making.

The church has a similar federal lawsuit pending against the city of Pleasant Grove.

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