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A Sign Of The Times: Billboard Regulation And The First Amendment Symposium - Selected Topics On Land Use Law - Comment., Anne E. Swenson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Evaluation of a billboard ordinance is complicated by the unique properties of this form of expression. The physical structure of the sign is not a form of expression; therefore, a state may regulate the size, height, degree of illumination, and location of the billboard. The sign’s message, on the other hand, is speech and thus protected from government action by the First Amendment. Further, the precise degree of First Amendment protection afforded to a particular message is a function of the character of the speech involved. First Amendment protection attaches if the sign’s message concerns a political, cultural, social, or …