Muslim Group Can Sue D.C. Over Lamppost Law

Muslim Group Can Sue D.C. Over Lamppost Law

WASHINGTON (CN) - The District of Columbia may be violating a Muslim group's free speech by enforcing a 60-day time limit for lamppost signs containing general political messages, a federal judge ruled.

Though the ruling allows a civil rights group to sue the district under the First Amendment, it also strikes two claims alleging that the regulations "are improperly content-based and undefined" and that the district excessively ticketed a different group in retaliation.

In D.C., anyone may post a sign expressing a general political message for 60 days. Signs related to a specific event can hang indefinitely before the event, but they must be removed within 30 days of its occurrence.

The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation (MASF) and the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (Answer) Coalition filed suit in 2007, claiming that the regulations violate the First Amendment and due process clause. The Answer Coalition alleged separately that it received 99 citations for using destructive adhesive to post signs advertising its March to Stop the War event on public lampposts and electrical boxes.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/26/38466.htm