66_CITY OF LADUE VS.

GILLEO replacement ordinance also expanded the exceptions

TOPIC: COMMERCIAL SPEECH
SUMMARY: A City of Ladue ordinance prohibited
homeowners from displaying any signs on property
except for residence identification, for sale signs and
signs warning of safety hazards. The Petitioner is the City
of Ladue (Petitioner). The Respondent, Maragaret Gilleo
(Respondent), put a sign on her front lawn that said “Say
no to War in the Persian Gulf, Call Congress Now.” Later
she put a similar sign in her window. The Court declared
the ordinance invalid since it violates the freedom of
speech.
Facts: The City of Ladue ordinance prohibited
homeowners from displaying any signs on property
except for residence identification, for sale signs and
signs warning of safety hazards. The police advised
respondent (Margaret P. Gilleo) that signs such as her
war protest sign (Say No To War in The Persian Golf.
Call Congress Now) were prohibited. The City Council
denied respondent’s petition for variance. The
respondent moved her sign to the window, so that it
wouldn’t be on her property. The Petitioner City enacted
a replacement ordinance in order to expand the definition
of signs that would be prohibited in the City and also to
add an explanation of the legislative purpose of the ban
on signs. The Petitioner City enacted a replacement
ordinance, which included a sweeping definition of signs
(window signs were among those prohibited) and also
extended an explanation of findings, policies, interests,
that described among other things that the signs would
clutter, tarnish beauty and impair property values. The
available for commercial signs.
ISSUE: Is the Petitioner City’s sign ordinance an
unconstitutional content-based restriction on speech?
RULING: YES.
RATIO: The ordinance violates the First Amendment
(FREEDOM OF SPEECH). It bears mentioning that
individual residents themselves have strong incentives to
keep their own property values up and to prevent “visual
clutter” in their own yards and neighborhoods—incentives
markedly different from those of persons who erect signs
on others’ land, in other’s neighborhoods, or on public
property. Ladue has almost completely foreclosed
venerable means of communication that is both unique
and important. It has totally foreclosed that medium to
political, religious, or personal messages. Often placed
on lawns or in windows, residential signs play an
important part in political campaigns. They may not afford
the same opportunities for conveying complex ideas as
do other media, but residential signs have long been an
important and distinct medium of expression.