Ariz. town's law on church signs comes under fire

GILBERT, Ariz. — A Christian legal-advocacy group is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to settle a years-long court battle over free speech and church signs here.

Good News Presbyterian Church, which has about 30 adult members who meet at a Chandler, Ariz., elementary school, claims Gilbert discriminates against the church by placing stricter rules on temporary signs directing congregants to worship services.

While the church wants to put roadside signs out a day before its services, town code prohibits noncommercial event signs from going up more than 12 hours before.

In contrast, political signs can be placed in public rights of way 60 days before an election. Ideological signs, which are meant to convey a noncommercial message or idea, can be posted in any zoning district and left up indefinitely, according to town code.

Lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom contend Gilbert's code violates First Amendment rights by discriminating based on the content of the signs, which advertise worship services.

Gilbert treats religious signs differently from other temporary signs in both the size allowed and length of time they can be displayed, the church says.

Gilbert officials have argued — and the courts have agreed — that the regulations treat churches no differently than other non-commercial groups and that the signs are not regulated based on who posts them, rather than their content.

A three-member panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in February ruled in Gilbert's favor though the decision was not unanimous and one dissenting judge argued that the town's law is unconstitutional.

The full appeals court declined to review the case, and the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a formal request Monday for Supreme Court intervention.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly known as Alliance Defense Fund, is a conservative advocacy organization launched by Christian leaders in 1994 that litigates cases related to religion, abortion and gay marriage. The group claims 38 Supreme Court "victories."

Alliance lawyer Jeremy Tedesco said he expects the Supreme Court to announce its decision on whether to hear the case within the next three months.

"I think the odds are very good, better than most cases," Tedesco said. "In this case, there is an issue of very important First Amendment law."

The Supreme Court is more likely to review a case when a "circuit conflict" exists on a particular issue, meaning several circuit courts across the country have had contradicting decisions, Tedesco said. Eight of 11 circuit courts have issued differing opinions on how they measure whether a sign regulation is content neutral.

Alliance Defending Freedom believes the case has broad, national implications for an issue that is a common subject of litigation. From 2001 to 2006, more than 100 cases challenging municipal sign ordinances were filed across the USA, Tedesco said.

"The town of Gilbert's ordinance favors political, ideological and homeowners association signs far more than the signs our client wants to post," he said. "It boils down to this: Everybody should be treated the same when it comes to the ability to place temporary signs."

Gilbert's dispute with Good News Presbyterian Church began in 2005, when the code-compliance department of the Phoenix suburb of about 220,000 people cited the church for posting signs too early in the public right of way.

The church responded by reducing the number of signs and the amount of time they were out, but Gilbert notified church officials again in 2007 that they were in violation.

Good News filed a lawsuit in March 2007 alleging that the code regulating signs discriminated against religious groups by violating free-speech rights.

Gilbert suspended the code while the case made its way through court, but that changed in 2008, when Gilbert adopted a sign-code amendment.

The changes allowed for bigger signs, no limit on the number of signs and more time for them to be up. Wording on the code was also changed so that signs for charitable, community-service, educational and other nonprofit organizations would be as restricted as those for churches.