Protests & Demonstrations

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Last week, the Tenth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction preventing Denver International Airport from enforcing much of its public protest policy.  We reported on that injunction after it issued and now return to discuss its reversal on appeal.  In short, the unanimous appellate panel concluded that the airport could reasonably require a seven-day permitting period for protests, even if that requirement quashed most spontaneous demonstrations.

Denver International Airport’s Jeppesen Terminal

A bit of background, though, before we get any further: after the Trump administration unveiled its so-called “Muslim Ban”  (more formally, but less memorably, titled Executive Order 13769) suspending nationals from several predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, spontaneous protests broke out in airports nationwide.  Plaintiffs in this case joined in those protests at DIA, where Continue Reading Tenth Circuit: No Constitutional Need for Speedier Protest Permitting at Denver International Airport

Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant. Source: Northeastern University.

A local nuclear power activist, who expresses concern about the possibility of a nuclear meltdown at a Massachusetts nuclear power, watched his First Amendment claims against the Town of Rowley “melt down” late month.  A federal district court in Massachusetts entered judgment on the pleadings in favor of the town, finding it did not engage in viewpoint discrimination, retaliation, or selective enforcement.

Stephen Comley, a town resident, posted signs in public right-of-ways throughout the town pertaining to his concerns about safety at the Seabrook Power Plant.  In 2015, Comley appeared before the town’s governing body to demand that the town take action against the power plant.  Following Comley’s appearance before the town board, he noticed that his signs began disappearing from the public right-of-ways, which reportedly hosted several other signs relating to elections and other subjects.  He then brought First Amendment claims for viewpoint discrimination, retaliation, and selective enforcement. Continue Reading Massachusetts Town Prevails in Nuclear Power Protest Case

Protesters near Planned Parenthood in Pittsburgh. Source: CBS Pittsburgh.

Last week, a federal district court granted summary judgment to the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a long-running dispute over a buffer zone law applicable to protest activities outside of reproductive health facilities such as Planned Parenthood.  The court held that the city’s 15-foot buffer zone law was content neutral and narrowly tailored to a substantial governmental interest, and thus valid under the First Amendment.

Pittsburgh enacted its buffer zone law in 2005.  The initial buffer zone law initially imposed a 15-foot buffer zone around the entrance to a hospital or health care facility in which no person was permitted to congregate, patrol, picket, or demonstrate.  The buffer zone excepted public safety officers, emergency workers, employees or agents of the facility, and patients.  The law also imposed an eight-foot “personal” buffer zone around individuals.  In the eight-foot buffer zone, no person could approach an individual to provide a leaflet or to protest, where the individual was within 100 feet of a hospital or health care facility entrance.  The eight-foot personal buffer zone was struck down in the case of Brown v. City of Pittsburgh in 2009.  The 15-foot buffer zone remained in effect, but was challenged again in 2014 following the Supreme Court’s decision in McCullen v. Coakley, in which the Court struck down a Massachusetts law imposing a 35-foot buffer zone around health care clinics.  The plaintiffs in the case are religiously-motivated protesters who engage in protest activities around a Planned Parenthood facility in Pittsburgh.  In 2016, as we reported, the Third Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of the case. Continue Reading District Court Finds in Favor of Pittsburgh Buffer Zone Law

Webcast— Special Topics in Planning and the First Amendment: Signs, Adult Businesses, Religious Land Uses, and More

December 14, 2017

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. EDT

CM | 1.50 | Law

CLE 1.50 through Illinois State Bar

The Planning and Law Division of the American Planning Association is pleased to host the upcoming webcast Special Topics in Planning and the First Amendment: Signs, Adult Businesses, Religious Land Uses, and More on December 14 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT. Registration for individuals is $20 for PLD members and $45 for nonmembers. Registration for two or more people at one computer is $140.

Planning and zoning in areas involving rights protected under the First Amendment, including the rights to free speech and freedom of religion, can be tricky. This webinar will review several areas in which planners interact with the First Amendment, including in the areas of signs, religious land uses, adult businesses, and even some other interesting areas such as the regulation of gun shops, tattoo parlors, public monuments, and other topics. Presenters will poll the audience at the beginning of the webinar to determine specific topics in which attendees are interested, and will tailor the presentation to attendees’ interests.

Speakers include Daniel Bolin of Ancel Glink, Brian Connolly of Otten Johnson Robinson Neff & Ragonetti, P.C., and Evan Seeman of Robinson & Cole LLP.

Register here

Nashville Pride Festival. Source: Nashville Pride.

Late last month, a federal district court in Tennessee granted summary judgment to the Nashville metropolitan government in a case involving the rights of protesters at the 2015 Nashville Pride Festival, which is a celebration of LGBTQ rights and culture.

Nashville Pride Festival is held in the City’s Public Square Park.  In order to hold the festival in the park, Nashville required the organization Nashville Pride to obtain a permit.  The event was ticketed, such that only those with tickets could enter into the park.  The plaintiffs in the case, John McGlone and Jeremy Peters, believe that homosexuality is a sin.  They attended the festival in protest, but stayed outside the ticketed area.  A festival employee asked them to leave the area outside of the gate, as it was subject to Nashville Pride’s permit.  Eventually, the protesters were removed to a location on the other side of the street from the park.  This location was unsatisfactory to the plaintiffs, because they believed that their message would reach less people. Continue Reading Court Upholds Relocation of Protesters at Nashville Pride Festival

Signs on the pedestrian overpass in Campbell, Wisconsin. Source: Milwaukee Journal.

Late last week, in a case that involved made-for-TV shenanigans by a local police officer, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a town’s total ban on signs, flags, and banners within 100 feet of an interstate highway could survive with respect to overhead signs, but remanded the case for additional proceedings with respect to other parts of the ban.

Campbell, Wisconsin bans all signs, flags, and banners along interstate highways.  The town enacted its regulation after members of the community hung political protest banners containing messages commonly identified with the Tea Party on a pedestrian overpass over Interstate 90.

Following the enactment of the regulation, the local police began issuing citations to individuals displaying signs along the highway.  Some of the individual sign-posters took videos of the police issuing citations—including in response to the protesters’ display of American flags and other patriotic signs along the interstate highway.  Concerned about the videos, in an apparent attempt at vigilante justice, the local police chief posted the name and email address of one of the Tea Party sign-posters on same-sex dating and pornographic websites.  The police chief also took to local newspapers to accuse the man of failing to pay his taxes.  Continue Reading Amid Interstate Overpass Soap Opera, Seventh Circuit Says No Empirical Evidence Required to Support Sign Regulation

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new book, Local Government, Land Use, and the First Amendment: Protecting Free Speech and Expression.  The book is published by ABA Publishing, and was edited by the editor of Rocky Mountain Sign Law, Brian Connolly.  Twelve authors contributed to the book, which contains chapters on everything from signs, religious land uses, adult businesses, the public forum doctrine, and government speech.

More about the new book is available from ABA:

This book is an re-mastered, retooled version of the ABA publication “Protecting Free Speech and Expression: The First Amendment and Land Use Law” which was published by the ABA.

The book contains some theoretical discussion of First Amendment law as it pertains to land use issues (e.g. sign and billboard regulation, regulation of artwork and aesthetics, regulation of religious land uses, regulation of adult businesses, etc.), but also provides information which will be relevant to practitioners, and will include some regulatory strategies and case studies. In order to strategically illustrate their points, the authors included cases as source material.

The book is available for purchase from ABA and will also be available on Amazon.

A nudist political protest in San Francisco. Source: Change.org.

This post was authored by Otten Johnson summer law clerk David Brewster.  David is a rising third-year law student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Is a birthday suit like burning a draft card?  Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals took on a First Amendment challenge to San Francisco’s public nudity ordinance, which prohibits an individual from exposing “his or her genitals, perineum, or anal region on any public street, sidewalk, street median, parklet, plaza, or public right-of-way . . . or in any transit vehicle, station, platform, or stop of any government operated transit system in the City and County of San Francisco.”  “Body freedom advocates” Oxane “Gypsy” Taub and George Davis brought an action challenging the City’s enforcement of the ordinance, alleging that it unconstitutionally prohibited expressive nudity at a political rally. The case came before the Ninth Circuit following dismissal by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Continue Reading Naked and Apparently Unafraid in San Francisco: Ninth Circuit Upholds Public Nudity Ban

This post was authored by Otten Johnson summer law clerk David Brewster.  David is a rising third-year law student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction preventing an Indiana county from denying a marijuana advocacy organization’s request to demonstrate.  We first reported on this case last December.  As a refresher, the Higher Society of Indiana is a non-profit organization currently lobbying for “full legalization of Cannabis in Indiana.”   In 1999, the Tippecanoe County board declared the courthouse grounds a “closed forum,” and enacted the following policy for those seeking demonstration approval on the grounds:

Only displays and events sponsored and prepared by a department or office of county government will be allowed in the windows of the Tippecanoe County Office Building or on the grounds of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse. Said displays and events shall be scheduled through the Board of Commissioners of the County of Tippecanoe. Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Upholds Preliminary Injunction in “Higher Society” Case

A Spokane Transit Authority bus. Source: Spokane Public Radio.

The union representing Spokane Transit Authority employees will have an opportunity to continue its challenge to the STA’s bus advertising policy, now that a federal court has denied the transit authority’s motion to dismiss.

Like many transit agencies, the STA has an advertising policy.  Until November 2016, the STA delegated administration and enforcement of the policy to an advertising contractor called ooh Media LLC.  The policy allows “Commercial and Promotional Advertising” and “Public Service Announcements.”  Commercial and promotional advertising includes general commercial advertisements for products, services, events, and the like.  Public service announcements are required to meet three criteria: the sponsor must be a governmental or 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity, the announcement must relate to one of five topics (including public health, safety or personal well-being, family or child social services, broad-based contribution campaigns, or services for low-income people or persons with disabilities), and the announcement may not include a commercial message.  The policy also prohibits deceptive advertising, political speech, or ideological or religious messages. Continue Reading Labor Union’s Challenge to Spokane Bus Advertising Rules Moves Forward