By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The city will decide who gets to put displays on Fountain Square this holiday season on a case-by-case basis, meaning not all who ask will get a permit.

City Solicitor Rita McNeil said the public services department will continue to accept and consider applications from groups and individuals while it awaits direction from the courts.

Organizations that applied and were denied permits because of the city's new law banning private holiday displays and events on the square can ask for reconsideration, she said.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overruled an appeals court order that had blocked Chabad of Southern Ohio from installing a menorah this year because of the city's ordinance.

The Supreme Court decision could clear the way for other groups to install their own displays. Some fear that could include the Ku Klux Klan, which has periodically displayed a cross.

Ms. McNeil said the city is seeking clarification from the appeals court on the Supreme Court decision, which only addressed the stay invoked on Chabad, Ms. McNeil said. The rest of the case has yet to be appealed, she said.

Seventeen groups and individuals were denied permits this year because of the city's ordinance. The applicants were mostly churches, schools and other nonprofit organizations.

E-mail kaldridge@enquirer.com