Signs, Billboards & Newsracks Archives
City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent (1984) upheld an
ordinance banning signs on utility poles, saying it did not violate the
First Amendment.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the city of Austin’s regulations that
prohibited new digital billboards or conversion of existing billboards to
digital are not a violation of the free speech clause of the First
Amendment just because the regulations allow digitization of signs that are
the premise of a business.
City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network (1993) held that Cincinnati’s
restrictions on the distribution of commercial flyers in news racks
violated the First Amendment.
City of Ladue v. Gilleo (1994) said a city could not stop homeowners from
posting political signs. Banning these signs stopped First Amendment
protected expression.
City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co. (1988) invalidated an city
news rack licensing scheme that gave the mayor complete discretion on First
Amendment grounds.
Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego (1981) invalidated a city ordinance
prohibiting outdoor advertising display signs because it reached “too far”
into protected speech.
Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015) invalidated a city ordinance that restricted
the size of directional signs after a pastor challenged the law as
violating the First Amendment.
