Last week, in one of the first judicial decisions addressing a First Amendment challenge to state-level social distancing requirements, a federal judge in New Mexico has denied preliminary injunctive relief to a church.  This outcome differs from another recently-decided case in Kentucky, where a district court enjoined enforcement of a city restriction that applied exclusively to drive-in church services. Like most other states, New Mexico has taken significant steps to combat the coronavirus.  These actions…

Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court’s summary judgment order in order favor of a non-theist group that sought to place a nonreligious display in the rotunda of the Texas state capitol during the holiday season.  The lower court found that the state, in denying the group’s display, had engaged in viewpoint discrimination.  However, the court found that the order granting retrospective relief was improper, but directed the lower…

This week, a federal district court in Wisconsin ruled that Adams Outdoor Advertising’s claims that the Madison sign ordinance is unconstitutional could not survive summary judgment.  The ruling in the city’s favor is further support for the proposition that Reed v. Town of Gilbert does not upset longstanding commercial speech doctrine. The Madison sign ordinance generally prohibits billboard advertising in most areas of the city.  Where they are permitted, billboards are subject to strict regulation…

This week, a federal district court denied the City of New Orleans’s motion to dismiss a First Amendment claim challenging the application of the city’s short-term rental law. Plaintiff Dawn Adams Wheelahan challenged the city’s short-term rental regulations on a variety of grounds.  The city had revoked her license to rent her property on a short-term basis, in part for failing to display her license on the property or in her advertising of the property…

Since the rest of the world seems to be taking a break from regular activities amid the COVID-19 outbreak, we’ll take a break from our regularly-scheduled programming to offer our view of the pandemic through the lens of our favorite topic:  First Amendment rights. China’s response to the outbreak in Wuhan is well-documented.  Mandatory quarantines, citywide shutdowns, prohibitions on gatherings, and other such actions were implemented swiftly.  We in the United States have not yet…

In a case involving violations of nearly every First Amendment protection for speech in public places, a federal court recently enjoined enforcement of new Chicago restrictions on speech in the city’s famed Millennium Park.  Evidently hoping to safeguard quiet contemplation of the “Bean” (pictured here) and all but a few other areas of the park, the City enacted an ordinance prohibiting a range of speech. The ordinance outlawed conduct “that objectively interferes with visitors’ ability…

Our friends at the APA Planning and Law Division will host a webinar on Deregulatory Trends in Land Use later this month.  We encourage our readers to register!  A description of the webinar and registration link follows: Rising housing costs and environmental concerns have led to efforts to “upzone” communities by deregulating limits on higher-density residential uses, providing density incentives for developments that include affordable housing, or eliminating single-family zoning altogether. Are these deregulatory trends…