Tag: reed v gilbert

Tennessee Approves Revised Law For Billboards

By OAAA Tennessee’s General Assembly has passed legislation intended to remedy a pending constitutional challenge to the State’s billboard control act. The bill goes to Governor Bill Lee. The Tennessee House voted unanimously to approve the legislation on June 11; the state Senate passed the bill 31-0 on June 4. […]

Michael Wright on LD Management v Kentucky

On May 5, 2020, the American Bar Association – which had rated Judge Justin Walker “unqualified” to serve as a district judge – rated him “well qualified” to sit on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, often called the second most important court in the nation. His decision in L.D. […]

Rothfelder on L.D. Management vs Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

Another State has found itself in the same predicament as Tennessee and Texas, after a Federal Court’s ruling that the Kentucky Highway Beautification Act is unconstitutional. Specifically, on April 24, 2020, the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, issued its opinion in L.D. Management Company vs. […]

Michael Wright on Rethinking Reed and Commercial Speech.

By Michael F Wright Ever since Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego (1981), courts have been applying an ultra-lenient version of intermediate scrutiny under Central Hudson Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Service Commission (1980) to content-based regulation of commercial signs. Then in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona […]

Rothfelder on Reed, Auspro and Thomas

On November 6, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the petition for rehearing en banc in Thomas vs. Bright. In doing so, the Federal Appellate Court set the stage for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, or more likely, to a legislative fix of […]

Is Billboard Law Constitutional?

Federal Appeals Court to Hear the Case Soon Insider has been tracking an important court case in Tennessee, Thomas v Schroer.  Word came this week that a federal appeals court will hear arguments on this challenge to billboard law based on the assertion that it violates the First Amendment. A three-judge […]

Many small towns not Reed v Gilbert compliant.

Insider is surprised how many small communities have sign codes which are not compliant with Reed V Gilbert.  The biggest offense is a sign code with multiple categories which requires a sign inspector to read a sign to decide what sort of rules apply. Insider knows of one Indiana town […]

Supreme Court Declines On/Off-Premise Sign Case

By Kerry Yoakum, Vice President of Government Affairs, OAAA On May 29, the US Supreme Court declined a challenge to San Francisco’s outdoor advertising restrictions which permit on-premise advertising but prohibit off-premise advertising. In 2015, Contest Promotions, a company that runs raffles for prizes such as movie and concert tickets […]

Feds Support State/Industry in TN billboard case

The federal government is supporting the State of Tennessee’s defense of its billboard law as a constitutional regulation that does not violate free speech. On March 5, the US Justice Department filed a friend-of-the-court brief (amicus) in the case Thomas v. Schroer.  You can read the brief here.  This gesture […]

Transit as Free Speech Battleground; Sessions’ DOJ Joins the Fight

Kerry Yoakum, an attorney, is a vice president of the OAAA The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is taking sides in a First Amendment lawsuit challenging transit’s ability to restrict religious ads. In Washington, DC, the Catholic Church has been fighting a losing court battle, which was prompted by the regional […]