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Free speech prevails in Fourth Circuit do-over

January 31, 2016 | By SHAUNEEN WERLINGER

After nearly four years of litigation, property owners’ First Amendment rights were finally vindicated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Central Radio Company v. City of Norfolk.  The court ruled that the City of Norfolk unconstitutionally prohibited the plaintiffs (who were protesting the government’s taking of t ...

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Supreme Court orders three U.S. Courts of Appeals to reconsider cases upholding restrictions on speech

July 01, 2015 | By SHAUNEEN WERLINGER

On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered three federal appellate courts to reconsider their decisions upholding sign restrictions in light of its recent decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert. The Court emphasized in Reed that government regulation of speech is content-based (and thus presumptively unconstitutional) if the law explicitly “draws dist ...

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Supreme Court victory for free speech : Reed v. Town of Gilbert

June 18, 2015 | By DEBORAH LA FETRA

The Supreme Court today unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, holding that the town’s Sign Code contained content-based regulations of speech that do not survive strict scrutiny. The Sign Code categorizes temporary signs and then restricts their size, duration, location, and other characteristics depending on the ...