[Mpls] Campaign Signs

[Tim Bonham]

Regarding lawn signs, the Mn Supreme Court has ruled on this in the past, 
when some suburbs tried to ban them.  They said that it was NOT 
constitutional to ban political lawn signs, but that cities could pass 
regulations limiting them, like limits on sign size & length of time they 
were displayed.  But they stressed that the regulations had to be 
"reasonable", and not have the effect of banning signs.

So cities CAN put 'reasonable' time limits for lawn signs.  Limits like the 
current one, about 6 weeks before the primary and 12 weeks before the 
general election, seem likely to meet the court's "reasonableness" test.  I 
don't think you'd get very far claiming that it's an unreasonable 
restriction on your freedom of speech to not allow signs now, weeks the 
legal filing period has even opened.

Besides, it's vanishingly rare for such laws to ever be enforced.  Most 
city or county attorneys would run like crazy from the political bees' nest 
of such a case.  The most I've ever seen was a letter, ordering a campaign 
to remove their signs by a specified date, or face legal action.  And the 
date given was 2 days AFTER the election.

And people are very passionate about 'their' lawn signs.  In my District, I 
suggested that we should organize a post-election effort to go around and 
pick up all the remaining Kerry lawn signs.  I was roundly derided for 
this, with many people saying they had 'paid good money for that sign, and 
were going to leave it up as long as that idiot is in the White 
House'.   And there are still many houses in my neighborhood with such sign 
still up.
In fact, you'd have a real hard time trying to get me to take down my 
black-bordered Wellstone lawn sign.

Tim Bonham, Ward 12, Standish-Ericsson