[Peace-discuss] Billboards and Free Speech

[Morton K. Brussel]

It seems to me that this issue of "free speech" for billboard  
companies who can censor the "free speech" of those wishing to  
display a message on their billboards should be noted at the City  
Council meeting.

--mkb

On Sep 24, 2007, at 6:20 PM, Jan & Durl Kruse wrote:

> John,
> This is very interesting.  Because of "free speech rights" an  
> advertising company like Adams can print anything it wants on its  
> billboards in Urbana as long as it is not obscene (and of course  
> they get handsomely paid for it) , while at the same time denying  
> AWARE's "free speech rights" by refusing to accept our wording  
> "IMPEACH BUSH/CHENEY" for a billboard in 2006 promoting the ballot  
> advisory referendum.
>
> This raises some interesting questions.  Is "advertising" protected  
> free speech and the exercise of free speech as implied in the  
> constitution?  Where does an "individual's free speech right " fit  
> into this picture when the company itself (Adams) refuses to print  
> the wording Impeach Bush/Cheney on a billboard because it is too  
> politically charged and may have a negative business backlash.
>
> Something is afoul here!
>
> I hope the Urbana City Council sticks to its position of regulating  
> billboards through "time, place and manner" by not permitting Adams  
> to place billboards in locations that are unsightly or unwanted by  
> the citizens of Urbana.  I don't believe the city council is trying  
> to regulate billboard content but attempting to control  visual  
> pollution.
>
>
>
>
> On Sep 24, 2007, at 5:32 PM, John W. wrote:
>
>> At 05:10 PM 9/24/2007, Jan & Durl Kruse wrote:
>>
>>>> Billboards and Free Speech:
>>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zpXLKAyESM&mode=related&search=
>>>>
>>>> Urbana reconsidering last year's ordinance on billboards
>>>> By Mike Monson
>>>>
>>>> Monday September 24, 2007
>>>>
>>>> URBANA – A lawsuit filed against the city of Urbana by Adams  
>>>> Outdoor Advertising is prompting city officials to propose  
>>>> revising an ordinance that is barely a year old.
>>>>
>>>> Adams owns all 32 billboard structures, with 64 billboard faces,  
>>>> in the city of Urbana. The company filed suit in Champaign  
>>>> County Circuit Court this past November, asking for relief from  
>>>> the city's new billboard ordinance, which was approved by the  
>>>> city council in June 2006.
>>>>
>>>> In the suit, Adams objected to the fact that to get a new  
>>>> billboard requires the company to get a special use permit  
>>>> approved by the city council and reviewed by the plan  
>>>> commission. Adams contended that requiring a special use permit  
>>>> was an abridgment on its First Amendment rights to free speech  
>>>> and failed to include basic due process protections.
>>
>>
>> If the permission granted or denied is based in any way on the  
>> CONTENT of the advertising, other than probably obscenity, Adams  
>> is absolutely right.  However, the city can impose what are called  
>> "time, place, and manner" restrictions on the billboards.
>>
>
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