The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a city ordinance that treats signs differently depending on whether they have a connection to the site where they are located is content-neutral – that is, it does not regulate speech based on content – and therefore not subject to strict scrutiny, the most stringent constitutional test. By a vote of 6-3, the justices sent the challenge to the ordinance in Austin, Texas, back to the lower courts for them to consider whether the sign code can survive under a less rigorous test. The decision was a victory not only for Austin but also for the tens of thousands of other municipalities with similar sign ordinances. The dispute before the court in City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising began when Reagan National, an outdoor advertising company, applied for permits to convert existing billboards to digital displays, which allow them to change the images that are shown every few seconds.
Source: ScotusBlog
