Some of the political signs that dot the District’s landscape could be allowed to stay up longer if the city follows the opinion of a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote in an opinion released Thursday that city regulations regarding political signs hung from lampposts might be unconstitutional and District lawmakers should consider rewriting the rules to avoid further court proceedings. If they follow his direction, they will rewrite the regulations so signs posted on public property are allowed stay up for the same amount of time regardless of whether they’re promoting a political event — such as an election — or expressing a general opinion.
If the court in its final decision finds that the regulations restricted expression based on the content of the signs. Lamberth wrote, “it will have little choice but to conclude that they favor election-related communications over general political advocacy in violation of the First Amendment.”
But, Lamberth wrote, “there is, of course, another alternative available to the District’s officials. They can revise the regulations to include a single, across-the-board durational restriction that applies equally to all viewpoints and subject matters.”
A spokesman for the D.C. Attorney General’s office said Thursday that “we’re reviewing the decision,” and declined to comment further.
Lamberth’s opinion allows to move forward a First Amendment lawsuit filed four years ago by two political groups: Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, and the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation.
The two groups claim the District’s rules regarding how long political signs can be posted on lampposts violate the First Amendment because they apply different time frames based on the signs’ content.
The city requires signs that promote political opinions to come down from lampposts within 60 days. Posters promoting specific events must be taken down within 30 days after the event. That means a sign protesting a war must come down within two months, but a poster stuck to a lamppost today for a candidate who won’t face an election until November 2012 can stay up until December 2012.
