Skip Oliva on City Planners’ Speech-Muzzling Sign Regulations

Since the 1950s, the United States Supreme Court has
unfortunately held that basic constitutional liberties should yield
to the government’s self-proclaimed interest in tailoring local
aesthetics.

In the eyes of government officials—for whom bright colors
and unlicensed protest signs are intolerable symbols of urban
blight—liberty will never be as attractive or aesthetically
pleasing as conformity, writes Skip Oliva.

This conformity was at work in the city of Clermont,
Florida, where city officials battled a local auto shop owner’s
attempts to expand his own property. Instead of seeking a permit,
Wayne Weatherbee posted a dozen signs on his lot criticizing city
officials, including the city manager and chief of
police.

The city’s next move was to take away Weatherbee’s freedom of
speech.

View this article.