New Billboard Bans Could Spark More Lawsuits

Billboard bans enacted recently in Cleveland and Milwaukee could face legal challenges similar to those already filed in New York and Chicago. Advertising interests are considering a suit challenging the Cleveland ordinance passed in February that bans alcohol and tobacco billboards. Milwaukee’s ban on tobacco boards adopted in March could also be tested. A pretrial hearing in the New York lawsuit was held April 17, and the case is set to be fully briefed by Aug. 14.

Denver has scheduled a public hearing for

May 11 to consider a proposed ban on tobacco billboards. Meanwhile, the District of Columbia may proceed in May with a tobacco billboard ban introduced last year. A similar ban on alcohol boards would probably be allowed to languish.

On April 1, Albany, N.Y., began enforcing a new law that limits tobacco advertising in windows, doorways, and around sidewalks to black-and-white text only. Businesses within 1,000 feet of schools are further limited to one black-and-white sign inside the store.

Law Firm Drops Challenge to Plane Crash Solicitation Ban

A Cleveland law firm settled its lawsuit against the Justice Department on April 2 in which the firm had claimed that the 30-day ban on soliciting relatives of plane crash victims was unconstitutional. In a suit also settled, the government had claimed that Nurenberg, Plevin, Heller & McCarthy Co. L.P.A. violated the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 by writing to relatives of victims less than two weeks after the October 1997 crash of a chartered Cessna in Colorado. The firm had contended the ban was vague and denied personal injury lawyers their First Amendment rights and equal protection under the law. However, the firm agreed to a settlement in which it accepted the government’s position that the ban applies to chartered as well as scheduled flights. The law firm’s suit, which was the first challenge to the act, was dismissed before the constitutional questions could be reached.

Court Strikes Phone Disclaimer on Cooling Off Period

A state law requiring paid solicitors to inform potential contributors of a three-day rescission period for telephone pledges violates the First Amendment, the U.S. district court in Colorado ruled. The court cited a line of Supreme Court cases holding that charitable solicitation is fully protected

speech rather than commercial speech. The court found that the disclosure provision was not narrowly tailored to the state’s asserted interest of fraud prevention. National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, Inc. v. Norton, 981 F. Supp. 1371 (D. Colo. 1997).

Town Seeks to Limit Newspaper Boxes
The city council of Glenwood Springs, Colo., wants to limit newspaper boxes to a maximum of 12 per block on a first-come, first-served basis. The council drafted a bill that would require the boxes to be of uniform color and design, and would require box owners to pay an annual fee of $25 per box and carry liability insurance. The measure will be studied by a committee of publishers, city officials, and downtown business owners. Local editors voiced concern that the ordinance would infringe on newspapers’ First Amendment rights.

    Commercial Speech Digest
    Editorial Board
Steven G. Brody, Esq.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
New York
212-504-6000

P. Cameron DeVore, Esq.
Davis Wright Tremaine
Seattle
206-622-3150

Robert Corn-Revere, Esq.
Hogan & Hartson
Washington, D.C.
202-637-5600

Daniel L. Jaffe
Executive Vice President
Association of National Advertisers
Washington, D.C.
202-626-7800

John Kamp
Senior Vice President
American Association of Advertising Agencies
Washington, D.C.
202-331-7345

Paul McMasters
First Amendment Ombudsman
The Freedom Forum
Arlington, Va.
703-284-3511

Prof. Robert M. O'Neil
Founding Director
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
Charlottesville, Va.
804-295-4784

Dr. Craig R. Smith
President
Freedom of Expression Foundation
Long Beach, Calif.
562-434-2284

Daniel E. Troy, Esq.
Wiley, Rein & Fielding
Washington, D.C.
202-828-7550

John J. Walsh, Esq.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
New York
212-504-6000

Prof. Harvey Zuckman
Director
Institute for Communications
Law Studies
Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.
202-319-5000

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Commercial Speech Digest

News and Commentary on Advertising Rights

 Richard T. Kaplar Editor
Alan Moseley Managing Editor
Marieka Prince Web Design
Brooke Prater Administration, Circulation

Vol. 2, No. 3, Spring 1998. Published quarterly by Communications Research Corporation (CRC), a for-profit consulting practice affiliated with The Media Institute. Contents ©1998 Communications Research Corporation. All rights reserved.

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