Local Government and the Regulation of Speech
How the First Amendment Affects Regulation of Political Signs, Political Speech by Employees, and Government Speech
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Government
- event Date
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE course will guide counsel to local governments on how to lawfully regulate the display of political signs and public employee campaigning on municipal property--without violating federal and state constitutions.
Mr. Makarious represents clients on municipal, airport, environmental, and construction matters. His airport work includes representing airports around the country on the negotiation of complex lease transactions with airlines, including airline use and lease agreements and agreements with airline fuel consortia. Mr. Makarious worked to revise the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics regulations, and works with the Department’s Aeronautics Division on matters regarding the use and regulation of drones. He has also assisted a private manufacturer of drone technologies in obtaining a waiver from the FAA for the use of drones beyond the visual line of sight, one of the first such waivers ever granted by the FAA.
Mr. Weinstein is a nationally-recognized expert on planning law and lectures frequently on the topic. He has extensive practice and research experience with First Amendment issues, particularly land use issues.
Mr. Hazelbaker advises small businesses and communities in employment law, land use, litigation and legislation. His clients are typically businesses, units of government and individuals.
It seems that election season never stops. Campaign signs and billboards are flooding every city and town, along with complaints about sign clutter. Local governments must also deal with complaints about public employees campaigning on municipal or county property.
Although political speech is at the core of First Amendment protection, some local regulation of the "time, place and manner" in which political discourse occurs is constitutional. The law in this area is notoriously complicated, however, and local governments frequently lose litigation over political and protest signs.
What are the constitutional limits on the regulation of political signs? Can political signs be regulated as a distinct class? Must a city allow the signs on public property? Can a political sign be so extreme that its display is a crime? Can public employees campaign on work time or in the workplace?
Listen as our authoritative panel of land use and First Amendment legal specialists explains the regulations that local governments may place upon the display of political signs and upon public employees' activities--without violating the federal and state constitutions. The panel will also discuss cases where regulations of political posters and employees' political speech have been ruled unconstitutional and the implications of the Supreme Court's Reed v. Town of Gilbert decision on this complex area of law.
- Regulating political signs
- Political signs as a distinct category
- Limits on size, height, number, and placement
- Reed v. Town of Gilbert
- Duration rules: limiting the time of display
- Post-election removal requirements
- Permits, registrations, fees, and removal bonds
- Mandatory disclosure of sponsorship
- Banning signs and electioneering near the polls
- Addressing campaign activity by public employees
- Garcetti v. Ceballos (U.S. Supreme Court, 2006) (public employee's free speech rights when speaking in an official capacity)
- State or city laws restricting political activity by certain public employees
- Addressing government speech
The panel will review these and other crucial questions:
- What issues must the municipal attorney consider when determining whether time limits for political signs are lawful?
- Can local governments impose any content restrictions on political signs and literature?
- How does current case law address participation by public employees in campaign activities on local government property?
- Can the political speech rights of public employees, even while off duty and at home, be limited as a term of employment?
