Court Revives Yard Sign Case

June 24, 2003

Mathew D. Staver

APPEALS COURT RULES THAT WOMAN WITH YARD SIGN DECLARING "JESUS IS ALIVE"
CAN CHALLENGE ZONING ORDINANCE IN FEDERAL COURT


YORK, PA - The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an opinion of "first impression" in the circuit concerning whether a person charged with a zoning violation by city employees may sue the municipality when the administrative ruling was not appealed to the highest local zoning board. In a 3-0 decision, the appeals court said that the federal trial court was wrong for tossing out Sybil Peachlum's case against the City of York regarding several fines and citations she received for displaying a Christian yard sign. Ms. Peachlum is represented by Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel.

Sybil Peachlum's case began in 1993 when she first displayed a sign in her yard with a picture of a peach holding a newspaper that said, "Peachy News: Jesus is Alive." She was cited by the City's zoning officer because, under York's zoning code, yard signs were not allowed without a permit. Ms. Peachlum applied for a permit and was denied. After removing the sign in 1993, she reinstalled it in 1994. The City cited her again in 1995 and again in 1998 and 1999. When Ms. Peachlum attempted to appeal the zoning officers' citations to the City's Zoning Hearing Board, she was told she could not appeal unless she paid the $350.00 appeal fee. She then asked the Zoning Hearing Board to waive the appeal fee. That request was denied as well. The City filed a civil complaint against Ms. Peachlum and threatened her with bi-weekly fines until the sign was taken down.

In 1999, Liberty Counsel filed suit on Ms. Peachlum's behalf, arguing that the zoning code that prevented Ms. Peachlum's sign was unconstitutional and that the appeal fee to was also unconstitutional. The lawsuit noted that the sign ordinance contained several exceptions to the permit requirement, some of which gave more protection to commercial speech than to private ideological or political speech. In November, 2000, the District Court held a one day trial. Seventeen months later, the District Court issued dismissed Ms. Peachlum's case, stating it was not "ripe" because the zoning board was not given a change to make a final ruling on the matter. The Third Circuit instead held that under the First Amendment, an individual does not have to first appeal a zoning officer's application of the ordinance to a zoning hearing board before filing suit. The Third Circuit also noted that the city must make exceptions to the appeal fees for people lacking financial means. While sending the case back to the District Court for a final ruling on the constitutional claims, the appeals court also declared that the challenged ordinance was a "content based" restriction on speech and also operated as a "prior restraint" on speech. While the appellate court did not decide the constitutional question since that was not ruled on below, the opinion leaves little doubt that the ordinance violates the First Amendment.

Mat Staver stated, "We are elated that Ms. Peachlum can now have her day in court." Staver continued, "The Supreme Court has declared that the First Amendment grants special protection to display signs in your front yard. Front yards in residential neighborhoods are places where we expect the right to post political, religious or patriotic messages. The days of York's unconstitutional zoning ordinance are numbered. The city of York sought to suppress Ms. Peachlum's message. However, immediately following the ruling, the message of the sign that "Jesus is Alive" has already been carried nationwide on CNN. I suggest that the city of York get used to it."

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DIGNITY FOR ALL STUDENTS ACT DIES IN NEW YORK LEGISLATURE

Through the efforts of a number of pro-family organizations, combined with a legal memorandum prepared by Liberty Counsel, attempts to pass the so-called Dignity for All Students Act died in the New York legislature. The bill would have required religious schools to teach a civility course on homosexuality, including transgender and cross-dressing life styles. Schools failing to do so would have been considered illegal and parents sending their children to such schools could have been targeted for truancy. The good news is the bill died. It may come back next year so we must be prepared. A similar bill also died this year in Florida after the legislature was slammed with telephone calls from concerned citizens.

KANSAS ABORTION CLINICS MUST REPORT WHEN CHILDREN UNDER 16 BECOME PREGNANT AS SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE

Pro-life Attorney General Phil Kline issued an opinion stating that doctors who perform abortions on children under 16 must report these cases to the state as suspected child abuse. Absent artificial insemination (which is highly improbable), when a child under 16 becomes pregnant, state law imposes one of three felony crimes against the person who impregnated the minor. Abortion doctors around the country have ignored these state reporting laws. The Kansas opinion says that doctors failing to report may faces charges and could lose their licenses.

Mathew D. Staver, Esq.
Liberty Counsel
http://www.lc.org.

An Ally of the Alliance Defense Fund