By Dan Horn and Sharon Coolidge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The annual fight over holiday displays on Fountain Square is back in court.

Lawyers for the city of Cincinnati returned to federal court Friday for the traditional legal battle over the right of private groups to erect Christmas and Hanukkah displays on the square.

City lawyers asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday to settle the dispute once and for all.

The city wants to block all private displays between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

So, it's asking the court to reinstate a city ordinance that bans them.

The city says it needs to control clutter on the square during the busy season. But a federal judge last year ruled the ban was an unconstitutional infringement on free speech.

Lawyers for Chabad of Southern Ohio, a Jewish group in Cincinnati, led the charge against the ban last year and were in court again Friday.

Chabad wants to erect an 18-foot menorah on the square for Hanukkah from Dec. 19 to Dec. 28.

Chabad's lawyers say Fountain Square is the city's "quintessential forum" and argue that the display ban effectively closes the forum.

"The city's position is there is no First Amendment issue here," said Marc Mezibov, Chabad's attorney. "We see it differently."

The city's lawyers told the 6th Circuit judges that governments have a right to regulate private displays on public property. They said the city's ban applies only to unattended displays, not to gatherings, protests or meetings.

"They can say happy Hanukkah or pass out leaflets," said Richard Ganulin, an assistant city solicitor.

If the 6th Circuit refuses to reinstate the ban - or if it does not act before the holidays - the menorah and two other private displays will go up. The other displays are a Nativity scene and an 8-foot statue of Jesus Christ.

If the court does reinstate the ban, all private displays will be barred this year.

The debate has been going on for more than a decade, ever since the Ku Klux Klan won permission to erect a cross. The Klan is not seeking a permit this year.

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Email dhorn@enquirer.com or scoolidge@enquirer.com