No. 21-3079 ___________________________

The Satanic Temple

Plaintiff - Appellant

v. City of Belle Plaine, Minnesota; Councilman Cary Coop, as City Council Member of the City of Belle Plaine, MN; Councilwoman Theresa McDaniel, as City Council Member of the City of Belle Plaine, MN; Councilman Ben Stier, as City Council Member of the City of Belle Plaine, MN; Councilman Paul Chard, as City Council Member of the City of Belle Plaine, MN; Mayor Christopher Meyer, as Mayor of the City of Belle Plaine, MN

Defendants - Appellees ___________________________

No. 21-3081 ___________________________

The Satanic Temple

Plaintiff - Appellant

v.

City of Belle Plaine, Minnesota Defendant - Appellee ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota ____________ Submitted: December 15, 2022 Filed: August 30, 2023 ____________ Before LOKEN, ERICKSON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges. ____________ KOBES, Circuit Judge.

The City of Belle Plaine, Minnesota, designated Veterans Memorial Park as a limited public forum and granted permits to two groups to place monuments there. Before the Satanic Temple could place its monument, the City closed the Park as a limited public forum and terminated both permits.

The Satanic Temple sued the City. The district court1 dismissed its claims, except for promissory estoppel, without prejudice. When the Satanic Temple moved to amend its complaint, a Magistrate Judge2 denied its motion. So the Satanic Temple filed a second suit, reasserting the dismissed claims and adding new ones. The district court held that res judicata bars the second suit and granted summary judgment to the City on the promissory estoppel claim from the first suit. We affirm.

I.

After a resident placed a statue of a soldier kneeling before a cross in the Park without the City’s permission, someone threatened to sue and the City removed the statue. The Belle Plaine City Council then passed an “Enacting Resolution,” which designated the Park as a limited public forum and allowed people with a permit to place monuments.

1 The Honorable Wilhelmina Wright, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota. 2 The Honorable Leo I. Brisbois, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota. -2- In March 2017, the City gave two groups permits: the Belle Plaine Veterans Club and the Satanic Temple. The Veterans Club returned the kneeling soldier statue to the Park in April, but the Satanic Temple’s display wasn’t ready yet. While the Satanic Temple’s display was being built, people objected to it being placed in the Park. In June, the Satanic Temple told the City that its display was ready. The City Council then passed a “Recission Resolution,” closing the Park as a limited public forum, terminating both permits, and instructing the Veterans Club to remove its statue.

The Satanic Temple sued the City (Satanic Temple I). It alleged that the City had violated the U.S. Constitution, Minnesota Constitution, and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and that the City was liable under the doctrine of promissory estoppel. After both parties moved for judgment on the pleadings, the dist