Eminent Domain Abuse Sign is Protected Speech

The United States Supreme Court declined to review a lower court’s decision which held that part of an ordinance adopted by St. Louis, Missouri, to force the removal of a sign protesting eminent domain violated the property owner’s First Amendment right to free speech.  In 2007, the property owner commissioned a 360-square-foot mural which proclaimed “End Eminent Domain Abuse” inside a red circle with a slash on the side of an apartment building after losing 24 buildings to eminent domain.  The matter was remanded to the trial court judge to review whether the entire ordinance is unconstitutional, or only the portion affecting the property owner’s sign.

For more news stories on this topic, please see the following:

U.S. Supreme Court declines to review St. Louis eminent domain sign case – STLtoday.com

U.S. Supreme Court Let’s St. Louis Protest Sign Stay Put – CBS St. Louis

Court Rules Large Eminent Domain Sign Protected As Free Speech – Fox St. Louis

US Supreme Court declines to hear case over anti-eminent domain sign in St. Louis – The Republic