BALTIMORE - Alarmed that Baltimore County has elected - for the second time
in a decade - to waste taxpayer resources trying to restrict the free speech
rights of it own residents, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today
filed suit seeking to overturn a new county law that unconstitutionally limits
when individuals can place political signs on their private property.
Plaintiffs in the case are eight Baltimore County residents - three of whom
are past candidates for political office: Clarence Bell, Kathleen Cahill, Joseph
Michael Collins, Sr., Ruth Goldstein, Homayoon and Manzar Moghbeli, Noel Levy,
and Patricia Visser (see below for plaintiff profiles).
"Like bandits in the
night snatching the yard signs of their constituents, the County Council has
voted to unconstitutionally limit our free speech rights," said Clarence Bell, a
recently retired Maryland state trooper. "That's why I'm proud to stand with
other county residents from across the political spectrum to demand that our
voices be restored."
The ACLU of Maryland repeatedly urged the County
Council to abandon the proposal, detailing the constitutional flaws in the
measure. But the council ignored those pleas, forcing the ACLU to take court
action. The new law takes effect on Saturday.
A nearly identical Baltimore
County law placing durational limits on political yard signs was enjoined as
unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1998. As
a result of the Fourth Circuit ruling, the county rescinded that law, only to
reenact a similar law eight years later. Such ordinances repeatedly have been
struck down in Maryland and across the country.
"The front lawn has become
hallowed ground for political speech in America, offering individuals an easy,
inexpensive, and visible opportunity to speak their minds on the issues of the
day," said ACLU of Maryland Legal Director Deborah A. Jeon. "It is mind-boggling
that the county would choose to waste taxpayer dollars pursuing a law that, in
essence, has already been found unconstitutional by the federal courts."
The
lawsuit charges that the Baltimore County zoning regulation unconstitutionally
restricts the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of county residents by
preventing them from displaying political campaign signs on their private
property. The law restricts the time during which residents may display most
political campaign signs to 45 days prior to any primary election, and seven
days after the general election. Such provisions are tantamount to a ban on
political speech for anywhere from seven to ten months each year.
In
addition, such restrictions tend to benefit incumbents in political races, and
have a negative effect on the ability of political newcomers to build name
recognition.
The residents challenging the ordinance are represented by ACLU
cooperating counsel Russell D. Duncan, Kathleen A. Orr, Bridgette Y. Ahn, and
Chris Brown, of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, and by ACLU of Maryland
Legal Director Deborah A. Jeon.
The complaint can be found online at: www.aclu-md.org/aPress/Press%202007/BC_Complaint.pdf
The
memo in support of the motion for a preliminary injunction can be found online
at: www.aclu-md.org/aPress/Press%202007/BC_Memo_in_Support_of%20Motion_for_PI.pdf
PLAINTIFFS: