News & Analysis as of October 13, 2024

First Amendment › Signs

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The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the press, preventing citizens from peacefully assembling, or interfering with citizens' ability to petition the government for redress of their grievances. The First Amendment is one of the most sacred aspects of the American legal tradition and has spawned a vast body of jurisprudence and commentary. less -

Federal Court of Appeals Rules Pennsylvania Borough’s Ordinance Regulating Political Yard Signs is Unconstitutional

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on 5/16/2024

In Camp Hill Borough Republican Ass’n v. Borough of Camp Hill, 2024 U.S. App LEXIS 11300 (3rd Cir., May 9, 2024), a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit declared portions of Camp Hill...more

Severability Saves the Sign Ordinance

Sands Anderson PC on 8/22/2023

Billboard companies have been persistent in challenging local zoning ordinances dealing with signs for many years now. In a case decided August 10, 2023, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Troy, Michigan, in...more

City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan Natl. Advertising of Austin, LLC - Loosening the First Amendment’s grip on governmental sign...

Bricker Graydon LLP on 6/13/2022

Sign law is a historically convoluted and ever-evolving legal topic. The court system is continuously issuing decisions expanding and restricting the scope of the government’s authority to regulate signage in an attempt to...more

U.S. Supreme Court Issues Two Decisions Impacting Local Sign Regulations and Flag Policies

Best Best & Krieger LLP on 5/18/2022

Lawful or Landmine? Court Rules on First Amendment Snares - Municipalities throughout the country regulate signs and set policy for flag-flying on public property. Done right, these are lawful functions of local...more

Not Reading the Signs: Supreme Court Examines Outdoor Signs (Again)

Sands Anderson PC on 4/25/2022

The US Supreme Court decided City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin yesterday. The case got the Court back into deciding what kinds of outdoor signs can be regulated. You might think that driving down the...more

Supreme Court Decides City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 4/22/2022

On April 21, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC, et al., No. 20-1029, holding that a city ordinance regulating offsite advertising is not subject to strict...more

Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Down Billboard Tax as Unconstitutional

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL on 9/30/2021

The Ohio Supreme Court recently struck down a billboard tax as unconstitutional in Lamar Advantage GP Co., LLC v. Cincinnati, Slip Opinion No. 2021-Ohio-3155. The case evaluated an excise tax placed on the installing,...more

Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement of Tennessee’s Bathroom Signage Law

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 7/16/2021

On July 9, 2021, a federal district court in Nashville, Tennessee, granted a preliminary injunction, halting enforcement of a new Tennessee law on bathroom signage. That law mandates that businesses post specific signs next...more

First Circuit Rejects Signs For Jesus’ RLUIPA and Constitutional Appeal

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 10/9/2020

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently found in favor of the Town of Pembroke, New Hampshire regarding the Town’s denial of an application for an electronic sign permit for religious messages. The Town’s...more

An Extraordinary Smackdown of an Ordinary Sign Ordinance

Best Best & Krieger LLP on 9/18/2020

Court Invalidates Common Sign Ordinance on First Amendment Grounds - A federal appeals court cited the First Amendment in invalidating some portions of the City of Troy, Mich.’s sign ordinance that are very common to many...more

Seventh Circuit Deflates Scabby the Rat's Ego and What it Means for Employers

Littler on 3/5/2019

“Scabby the Rat” reared its inflatable rodent head last month in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. In Constr. & Gen. Laborers’ Union 330 v. Town of Grand Chute, No. 18-1739 (7th Cir. Feb. 14, 2019...more

How Michigan’s New Legal Advertising Rule Violates the First Amendment

Michigan Auto Law on 7/18/2018

MRPC 7.2(d)’s legal advertising rule puts an end to lawyers’ ability to advertise on Google and Facebook, violates First Amendment Free Speech rights - Carefully crafted rules of professional conduct for lawyers are...more

City’s On-site and Off-site Business Signs Distinction Upheld - Ninth Circuit Says Code is Proper Regulation of Commercial Speech

Best Best & Krieger LLP on 8/24/2017

A City of San Francisco Planning Code section that distinguishes between “general advertising signs” and “business signs” was upheld last week by a federal appeals court. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling...more

Supreme Court Expands First Amendment Protections For Public Employees

Miller Canfield on 4/29/2016

On April 26, 2016, the United States Supreme Court ruled that when a public employer demotes an employee out of a desire to prevent that employee from engaging in First Amendment protected activity, the employee can challenge...more

The Supreme Court – April 2016 #4

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 4/28/2016

The Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in one case on April 26, 2016: - Heffernan v. City of Paterson, No. 14-1280: Petitioner Jeffrey Heffernan was a police officer in Paterson, New Jersey. Heffernan...more

Supreme Court Decides Heffernan v. City of Paterson

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 4/27/2016

On April 26, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Heffernan v. City of Paterson, No. 14-1280, holding government employees who are demoted because their employer believes they are engaging in constitutionally protected political...more

Perceived Political Expression Protected By First Amendment, Supreme Court Says

Fisher Phillips on 4/26/2016

In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court today held that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects both actual and perceived political speech and expression by public employees. The unsurprising decision squares with...more

U.S. Supreme Court Affirms That Content-Based Sign Codes Violate The First Amendment

Best Best & Krieger LLP on 9/10/2015

Now, more than ever, local municipalities should review their municipal sign laws to ensure that signs are not being regulated based on their message. This is in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that an...more

Supreme Court Decides Two First Amendment Cases

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 7/10/2015

Two recent Supreme Court decisions provide timely guidance on the First Amendment implications of publicly displaying the Confederate Flag or other symbols or signage related to protected beliefs. First, in Walker v. Sons of...more

Arizona Town's Content-Based Sign Rules Struck Down by U.S. Supreme Court

Best Best & Krieger LLP on 7/9/2015

Local agencies urged to review sign codes in favor of content-neutral rules - The United States Supreme Court recently struck down portions of an Arizona town’s sign code that subjected ideological, political and...more

Supreme Court Strikes Down Ordinance Regulating Directional Signs

Dickinson Wright on 7/8/2015

In the case of Reed v. Town of Gilbert, the United States Supreme Court recently issued a significant decision regarding municipal sign regulation The Town of Gilbert regulated signage differently based on the content of the...more

Guest Commentary: Life after Reed v Gilbert

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 7/1/2015

Last week, we reported on the potential impact of Reed v. Gilbert, the sign regulation case that has municipalities across the nation concerned about the enforceability of local sign ordinances. This week, we’re happy to...more

Signs Signs, Everywhere a Sign: U.S. Supreme Court Decides Reed v. Town of Gilbert

Sands Anderson PC on 6/24/2015

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down today an important First Amendment case concerning governments’ ability to regulate commonly displayed informational signs. In Reed v. Town of Gilbert,...more

Supreme Court Decides Reed v. Town of Gilbert

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP on 6/19/2015

On June 18, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided Reed v. Town of Gilbert, No. 13-502, holding that a municipal code subjecting signs to different regulations depending on whether the sign displayed an ideological...more

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First Amendment › Signs

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