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Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Ind. Law - More on: Political yard signs in the news again
Updating this ILB entry from Aug. 8, 2005, Bruce C. Smith reports today in the Indianapolis Star, under the headline "Plainfield, Lebanon will drop rules on political yard signs: Lebanon, Plainfield, Highland had faced federal lawsuits." The story begins:
Faced with federal lawsuits over free-speech issues, three communities have decided to drop their rules about the display of yard signs promoting political candidates.Ken Falk, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which filed the suits, said the local ordinances tried to curtail one of the purest forms of free speech.
Many cities and towns in the state adopted similar laws years ago to curtail the visual clutter of yard signs during campaign season and to treat candidates equally.
In many communities, the ordinances say election signs may be no larger than a real estate "for sale" sign and may not be displayed more than 30 days before of an election.
In September, as the race for president was heating up in Indiana, the ACLU sued three communities -- Plainfield and Lebanon in metropolitan Indianapolis, and Highland near Chicago -- when local officials attempted to enforce their rules on yard signs.
All three suits were triggered by complaints to the ACLU by supporters of Democratic nominee Barack Obama after the local governments removed their yard signs or asked that they be removed.
Falk said Tuesday that the suits against Highland and Lebanon have been settled. Both city councils voted late last year to delete the controversial wording from their sign control laws and agreed to pay attorney fees and other costs sought by the ACLU.
Lebanon now limits the size of political signs to the same as any other signs allowed in a residential neighborhood: 32 square feet, or the size of a sheet of plywood.
Plainfield officials are going through a series of public votes this month to accept the same deal.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 7, 2009 11:55 AM
Posted to Indiana Law