This will be the first of several posts relating to the recent Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, and will primarily provide the factual and procedural background for the case.  In this case, the Supreme Court struck down significant parts of a Town code regulating signs on First Amendment grounds. More specifically, the Court ruled that because the sign code made content-based distinctions between the signs, strict scrutiny should apply, a decision which could potentially invalidate countless sign codes across the country based on how widely it is interpreted.

This will be the first of several posts relating to the recent Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, and will primarily provide the factual and procedural background for the case.  In this case, the Supreme Court struck down significant parts of a Town code regulating signs on First Amendment grounds. More specifically, the Court ruled that because the sign code made content-based distinctions between the signs, strict scrutiny should apply, a decision which could potentially invalidate countless sign codes across the country based on how widely it is interpreted.

The case at issue was brought by the pastor of a small church. Due to the small size of the congregation, the church does not have its own building and accordingly has to shift its location on a week to week basis. To facilitate this, the church members post signs on Saturdays to inform people of the location and time of the Sunday service, removing the signs after services end. After being repeatedly cited for this practice, the church and its pastor brought suit against the Town on the grounds that the sign code violated their First Amendment rights. This decision is what ultimately followed.

The court's full decision can be found here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/13-502_9olb.pdf