Montana joins suit to defend First Amendment rights

Montana Attorney General Tim Fox announced Sept. 26 that Montana joined nine other states in an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court to support an Arizona church’s fight against a local sign ordinance that the church says stifles its freedoms under the First Amendment.

According to Fox, the brief asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld a sign ordinance passed by the city of Gilbert, Ariz., which places size limitations on signs placed by churches and non-profit entities, but does not impose similar restrictions on other signs, including political signs.

A local church, Good News Community Church, and its pastor, Clyde Reed, filed the lawsuit against the ordinance.

“If the Supreme Court upholds the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, it would give governments, including the federal government, the authority to systematically favor speech about certain subjects over speech about other subjects,” Fox said. “This would be a dangerous erosion of the rights that all Americans are guaranteed under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

Gilbert’s city ordinance restricts signs promoting events, meetings or activities of nonprofit groups, including local churches, while it broadly permits any political or ideological signs.

Political signs can be up to 32 square feet, displayed for many months and unlimited in number. An ideological sign can be up to 20 square feet, displayed indefinitely and unlimited in number. Church signs, however, can only be 6 square feet, may be displayed for no more than 14 hours, and are limited to four per property.

“We believe this case raises important constitutional questions about the proper standards and level of scrutiny for laws that discriminate on the basis of the content of speech,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said. “How the U.S. Supreme Court resolves these issues will have wide-ranging ramifications for free speech in many contexts beyond sign ordinances.”

The friend of the court brief was signed by attorneys general from West Virginia, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. To read a copy, visit online at https://media.dojmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/13-502-tsac-West-Virginia.pdf.