home > newsroom Free Speech Triumphs in Ogden, Utah Second District Court Overturns City’s Ban on Core Political Speech on Private Property FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 1, 2003 Ogden, UT -- Second District Judge Parley Baldwin, ruled in favor of Bruce Edwards today overturning Ogden City’s ordinance prohibiting the display of political signs from vacant buildings in Ogden. The Court’s ruling stems from an issue that began in the fall of 2000 when frustrated by his inability to resolve a series of disputes with Ogden City officials, Ogden resident Bruce Edwards resorted to a different form of petitioning for redress of his grievances by posting signs expressing criticism of the city on several vacant buildings that he owns in the downtown area. In December 2001, the city council enacted an ordinance that provided in part that “a vacant building and the premises shall be kept free of all interior or exterior signs, displays or graffiti,” subject to limited exceptions. Ogden City initiated a criminal prosecution against Edwards for violating the new ordinance, and in a rare move, initiated a civil action as well, seeking a court order requiring Edwards to remove his signs. On February 6, 2002, one day before the Olympic torch was to go through Ogden, Ogden City argued that Edwards’ signs detracted from the city’s efforts “to present itself as a clean, safe, and desirous environment for parents to raise families and businesses to enjoy prosperity.” On February 26, the ACLU filed a counterclaim against the City arguing that the city had not demonstrated a compelling interest that would justify the restriction of Edwards’ core political speech on his private property. Our argument maintained that the ordinance was too broad and unconstitutionally based upon the content of the message because it prohibited free speech activities on private property while allowing the display of certain city-approved signage. The result was that private property owners were not only silenced by Ogden City but could also be thrown in jail simply for expressing their own opinions on their own property. “This decision is a victory for the free speech rights of private property owners everywhere in Utah. It sends a clear message to government entities that depriving property owners of the fundamental right to free speech on their own property is an intrusion into property rights and civil liberties that is unconstitutional and cannot be tolerated,” stated Janelle Eurick, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Utah. In his decision today, Judge Baldwin stated, “ The sweeping inclusion of the ban understandably would dismay the average American, who given this nation’s proudly proclaimed history of special respect for individual liberty and private property, would be surprised to learn that he could not display flags, religious symbols, political placards, or even bumper stickers from the windows of his vacant building.” --end-- Click here for more information on the case.

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