In a case that we reported on last year, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a federal district court’s decision to dismiss a case involving an illuminated peace sign high above the sidewalks of New York City. Bridget Vosse desired to display a lighted peace sign from her condominium in the
First Circuit Rejects New Hampshire “Ballot Selfie” Law
Late last month, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision finding that a New Hampshire law prohibiting digital photography of completed election ballots violated the First Amendment. In the case of Rideout v. Gardner, the court found that the law was not narrowly tailored to a significant governmental interest, and therefore failed intermediate scrutiny review.
The New Hampshire law in question was commonly referred to as the “ballot selfie” law, since it prohibited individuals from taking cell phone photographs of themselves with their completed ballots. The law was a 21st century update of an earlier state law dating back to the late 1800s
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New Jersey Supreme Court: Digital Billboard Ban Unconstitutional
In a surprising decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court found earlier this month that a township ordinance prohibiting digital billboards violated the free speech provisions of the U.S. and New Jersey constitutions.
Franklin Township, New Jersey, a suburban community in Somerset County, enacted sign regulations that allowed billboards in zoning districts near interstate highways. The regulations prohibited digital billboards. The township justified its regulations on the basis of traffic safety and aesthetics. Various township bodies suggested that the ban on digital billboards was enacted because the township did not have sufficient information on the safety of digital billboards in order to craft appropriate regulations. Because state law imposes dispersal requirements on billboards, it was established that the township could have just three static billboards and just one digital billboard.
In 2009, E&J Equities sought a variance to allow the placement of a digital billboard in the township. Because digital billboards were not allowed, the request was brought before the township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. The ZBA did not approve the application.
Thereafter, E&J brought an action against the township in state trial court. The trial court found that the township failed to meet intermediate scrutiny
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Pennsylvania Court Dismisses Several Claims and Denies Preliminary Injunction in Buffer Zone Case
The City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania enacted a “buffer zone” ordinance that disallows an individual to “knowingly congregate, patrol, picket or demonstrate in a zone extending 20 feet from any portion of an entrance to, exit from, or driveway of a health care facility.” A group of plaintiffs, protesters and sidewalk counselors near abortion clinics, challenged
Tenth Circuit Upholds Grant of Preliminary Injunction in Denver Courthouse Case
In the continuing saga of the plaza of the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse here in Denver, last Friday, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. Specifically, the Tenth Circuit upheld the district court’s treatment of the courthouse plaza as a traditional public forum—the Second Judicial District had earlier waived its argument that the plaza was anything but a traditional public forum—and that the district court did not err in finding that the content neutral regulation of speech in the plaza was insufficiently narrowly tailored.
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