Union County Signage Ordinance Restricting Free Speech in Hyperion Vote?
Surprisingly, this story in the Sioux City Journal seems to have gotten little play--but should have. (I've seen no non-Sioux City media with it.)
Read: County board says signs too big
Excerpt:
Coupled with the bogus "outcry" about Hyperion opponents painting messages on county highways, one wonders if this is further proof of Hyperion's and the County's attempts to stifle dissent against the project by regular citizens.
The source who tipped me off to this story and lives in the area certainly thinks that's the case and that the sudden enforcement against Hyperion opponents is suspicious.
Hyperion is a apparently a well-heeled company (well-heeled enough to buy land options, open an office, and buy advertising) for their project. Citizens opposed to the project don't have such resources at their disposal. Elections and democracy don't work if both sides cannot communicate their message to the voters. If Hyperion is so confident in a victory for the new zoning ordinances they support, I can't imagine that stifling some 4 x 8 hand painted signs on plywood is going to deter their cause.
*Reasonable time, place, manner restrictions on even political expression is Constitutional. However, the government cannot act in an arbitrary and capricious manner in the enforcement of those ordinances regarding signage. This is a complicated area of law. For an overview read Political Yard Signs from the First Amendment Center.
Technorati Tags: political signs, Hyperion, Union County, protest, refinery, first amendment, law, Sioux City Journal
Read: County board says signs too big
Excerpt:
ELK POINT, S.D. -- The Union County Board of Commissioners will send letters to anti- and pro-refinery groups informing them that campaign signs in the county cannot exceed 25 square feet.
Union County board chairman Doyle Karpen said Union County State's Attorney Jerry Miller told the commissioners during their meeting Monday morning that the county had received a complaint about signs reading "Vote No Hyperion" painted on 4-foot-by-8-foot plywood and displayed outside of Elk Point city limits. He said a county ordinance limits signs in rural areas to 25 square feet.
Miller said the county ordinance specific to election signs does not limit their size, but he believes the general sign ordinance applies to all signs. The law exempts only "on-site" signs, meaning business signs displayed on the business's property, from the size limit...
This strikes me as selective enforcement of the signage ordinance. First, it appears the election signage ordinance does not cover the size of electioneering signs.* Second, while I don't know for certain, but 4 x 8 signs are a standard size for campaign signs, particularly in rural areas. I can't believe prior to the Hyperion election that Rep. Herseth or Sen. Thune or Gov. Rounds didn't have 4 x 8s placed in locations in rural Union County. I'm sure I've seen such signs on I-29 as I've driven down the Interstate in Union County.
Coupled with the bogus "outcry" about Hyperion opponents painting messages on county highways, one wonders if this is further proof of Hyperion's and the County's attempts to stifle dissent against the project by regular citizens.
The source who tipped me off to this story and lives in the area certainly thinks that's the case and that the sudden enforcement against Hyperion opponents is suspicious.
Hyperion is a apparently a well-heeled company (well-heeled enough to buy land options, open an office, and buy advertising) for their project. Citizens opposed to the project don't have such resources at their disposal. Elections and democracy don't work if both sides cannot communicate their message to the voters. If Hyperion is so confident in a victory for the new zoning ordinances they support, I can't imagine that stifling some 4 x 8 hand painted signs on plywood is going to deter their cause.
*Reasonable time, place, manner restrictions on even political expression is Constitutional. However, the government cannot act in an arbitrary and capricious manner in the enforcement of those ordinances regarding signage. This is a complicated area of law. For an overview read Political Yard Signs from the First Amendment Center.
Technorati Tags: political signs, Hyperion, Union County, protest, refinery, first amendment, law, Sioux City Journal
Todd Epp
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Reader Comments (3)
Todd - You are right. The gov't can regulate time, place, and manner of speech, such as the size of signs. But they cannot selectively enforce those rules to promote a particular viewpoint.
There is another legal point here, too. Generally, when interpreting statutes, one presumes that the more specific statute controls. If Union County has a "general sign provision" and a "political sign provision," I would think you would look to the latter for regulation of political signs. If it is silent as to their size, I would think that controls. I could be wrong...
I am betting that the cash poor opposition to the refinery can afford a skil saw, and I am betting that two 4 x 4 signs will be just as effective (if not more) as one 4 x 8 sign, and neither as effective as you lead everyone to believe.
My final bet is this..... minds are made up and a cheesy vote yes or vote no sign will not sway the opinions of the voters of Union County.
This has to do with how elected officials choose to interpret their ordinances and selectively enforce them based upon their own positions on the issue, not about the size of the signs. If the opponents had used 4X4 signs instead of 4X8 signs I suspect the county would have found some way to go after the smaller signs as well.
If elected officials choose to use their power to stifle free speech we must all respond.