Utah Court Strikes Down Injunction Banning Speech “Annoy[ing] or Caus[ing] Distress” to Neighbor Running a Mental Health Residential Treatment Center,

A short excerpt from the long opinion in Ragsdale v. Fisher, decided yesterday by Utah Court of Appeals Judge Gregory K. Orme, joined by Judges Ryan M. Harris and John D. Luthy:

For over ten years, George Fishler has shown his vehement opposition to Kristi Ragsdale operating her residential treatment center in his neighborhood by displaying provocative yard signs and by mouthing or shouting profanities, coupled with rude hand gestures, at anybody entering, leaving, or on the business’s property…. Ragsdale is the founder and owner of the Eva Carlston Academy (ECA)—a residential treatment center for adolescent girls experiencing mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. In 2013, ECA opened a location at the end of a cul-de-sac in a Salt Lake-area neighborhood. Fishler and his wife are long-time residents of the cul-de-sac. Their home is located directly north of ECA.

Fishler and other neighbors vehemently opposed the opening of the ECA location in their neighborhood. Several neighbors voiced their opposition at community council meetings and displayed yard signs concerning “commercial businesses ‘invading’ the neighborhood.” Fishler drafted a flier that he distributed to neighbors that stated, without specifically identifying Ragsdale or ECA, that the “commercial enterprise will degrade th[e] neighborhood” and urged neighbors to contact the local authorities.

Despite Fishler’s and the neighbors’ efforts, ECA was able to obtain the necessary permits, and it began operating in the cul-de-sac. Believing that the resulting noise and traffic “ruined the neighborhood,” Fishler continued to “protest” ECA. He did so by displaying two yard signs—one in the front and one in the back of his property—stating,

TROUBLED TEEN MONEY MACHINE BECOME DISABLED FOR ONLY $10,000/MONTH

and another sign at the front of his property stating, “DELIVER US FROM EVA.” These signs have remained on Fishler’s property for many years. Additionally, whenever Fishler saw Ragsdale, he would hold up his middle finger and sometimes mouth or s

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