Score one for common sense:
Plainfield will no longer enforce an ordinance banning political campaign yard signs more than 30 days before Election Day, the town's attorney said today.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana targeted the Plainfield law Tuesday in a federal lawsuit, citing concerns that any time limits on displaying political signs violated First Amendment free speech rights. Melvin Daniel, the town's attorney, said that after reviewing the legal issues involved, town officials decided to halt any enforcement.
It would have been better if the town had "reviewed the legal issues" before passing the ordinance, but give town officials credit for backing off instead of getting stubborn and going through costly litigation.
Comments
I would like to see the Fort Wayne sign ordinance over turned. I still see many signs put up on public right of ways for all sorts of things. I am sure some candidates will get a sign up in the public right of way as well in the coming weeks.
I was asked by several different people at different times as to who is running as a candidate for any office. I actually could not give them a good answer. I know who I am voting for, but to name all the candidate, I could not do. The one thing that yard signs to is put out for all to see, who is running for a particular offce.
How do you find out who is running today? They may call you at home disrupting your dinner. You may get mail. For those with more money to spend, you may hear or see a commercial where in the 30 seconds they speak about few issues, but bash the opponent.
I have always preferred the yard sign. It gave me the opportunity to see who was a candidate and check them out at my leisure. The most important free speech right we have is political free speech.