Supreme Court backs church in lawsuit against Arizona city
June 19, 2015
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court struck down an Arizona city’s ordinance that had hindered a church from posting directional signs to its Sunday services.
Gilbert, a city of 230,000, forbade organizations from posting directional signs more than 12 hours before an event take place but had more generous provisions for political and other signs.
“Innocent motives do not eliminate the danger of censorship presented by a facially content-based statute, as future government officials may one day wield such statutes to suppress disfavored speech,” the Court ruled.
“I've been a pastor for over 40 years, and believe me when I say I never dreamed my small church signs would be a topic for the U.S. Supreme Court," said Clyde Reed of the Good News Presbyterian Church. "The government shouldn't be able to treat our church's religious speech worse than it treats other speech, like politicians' speech."
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Further information:
- Gilbert church wins: Supreme Court strikes down sign ordinance (Arizona Republic)
- Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Church's Challenge To Restrictive Sign Ordinance (Religion Clause)
- Landmark decision for free speech (Alliance Defending Freedom)
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