City Can Choose What Gets Painted on City Roadways
From Women for America First v. Adams, decided Friday by the Second Circuit (Judges John M. Walker, Jr., Joseph F. Bianco, and Beth Robinson):
In July 2020, New York City employees and private citizens began painting “Black Lives Matter” in large, bright-yellow letters on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, directly in front of Trump Tower. The mural was allegedly undertaken by the New York City Department of Transportation … at an initial cost of approximately $6,000. Moreover, the mural was part of former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s commitment to the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which included an announcement by Mayor de Blasio that each borough in New York City … would get its own “Black Lives Matter” mural. Thus, according to the amended complaint, the mural on Fifth Avenue was one of seven similar murals painted on streets throughout the City at Mayor de Blasio’s direction.
Also in July 2020, WFAF submitted a request to Mayor de Blasio to paint its own mural on a City street. {Specifically, WFAF sought “to paint a mural of [their] motto—’Engaging, Inspiring and Empowering Women to Make a Difference!’—on Fifth Avenue, or another similar street within the city’s jurisdiction.”} After receiving no response, WFAF sent a second request that was later denied by the DOT because “the NYC DOT does not permit installations on City roadways that are open to traffic.” …
WFAF sued, but the court held against them (quite correctly, I think):
[T]he City Defendants engaged in government—not private—speech, and thus, WFAF’s First Amendment claim fails as a matter of law….
[I]f a government “engag[es] in [its] own expressive conduct, then the Free Speech Clause has no application” because, while the First Amendment “restricts government regulation of private speech,” it does not restrict the government’s speech. Pleasant Grove City v. Summum (2009). Thus, when the government speaks f
Article from Latest
