LA City Council cracks down on mobile billboards

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MotF Bane

No Lifer
Dec 22, 2006
60,801
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I think selectively choosing which ones are and are not allowed is questionable.

They would be better off simply banning them entirely, and that would not be a violation of the First, because they're vehicles, and subject to roadway rules.
 
soundforbjt

soundforbjt

Lifer
Feb 15, 2002
17,788
6,041
136
MotF Bane said:
I think selectively choosing which ones are and are not allowed is questionable.

They would be better off simply banning them entirely, and that would not be a violation of the First, because they're vehicles, and subject to roadway rules.
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This ^^
 
monovillage

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
8,444
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halik said:
Don't think commercial/promotional stuff of that nature would be protected; what's stopping clorox from paying a bunch of people to have a "demonstration" to yell the benefits of using clorox bleach?
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Bad PR ? If they just include political sayings on the vehicles, or perhaps political ads on part of the signs I doubt if they can be controlled farther than other legitimate signs. Wait for a few busts and there will be a test case. I doubt if the L.A. will win except under narrow definitions.
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
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www.slatebrookfarm.com
Cities can regulate commercial traffic within the city lines. They can determine acceptable truck routes, which streets trucks can't go down, etc. However, regulating solely on the basis of the advertisement on the side of the truck likely (imh-ianal-o) violates the first amendment. It also raises an issue of who determines how much of an advertisement is too much of an advertisement. Is simply having the name of a company on the side of a truck too much? I've never heard a complaint about them in my life.
 
D

dmcowen674

No Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
54,889
47
91
www.alienbabeltech.com
DrPizza said:
Is simply having the name of a company on the side of a truck too much?

I've never heard a complaint about them in my life.
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You haven't been in a big city then.

Here in Chicago they are all over the place going slow causing traffic jams and park all over the place taking up parking spaces when there aren't that many to begin with.

When I was in Denver they were really bad too. Radio stations using the trucks blaring their station with loudspeakers as well.

Out of control.
 
Texashiker

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
198
106
her209 said:
Would you consider this be a violation of First Amendment (free speech) rights?
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Certain forms of speech can be limited. When it comes to political speech, then there is an issue.

I see nothing wrong with limiting billboards pointed towards advertizing.

Billboards for political reasons might be sticky issue.

I think it was back in the 1930s, 1940s,,, the US congress passed a law prohibiting those huge roadside signs unless they were next to a business. Companies were putting up so many roadside signs in rural highways, they were getting to be an eye sore. I think it was eleanor roosevelt that was taking a drive through the country, got tired of looking at the signs, and asked her husband if congress could pass a law restricting billboards.

If the federal government can pass a law restricting bill boards, why cant a city?

DrPizza said:
However, regulating solely on the basis of the advertisement on the side of the truck likely (imh-ianal-o) violates the first amendment.
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There are laws in place all over the nation that restrict bill boards to certain zoned districts in a city.

http://www.commercialalert.org/news/archive/2007/07/billboards-and-loopholes

In New York, for example—where billboards are largely restricted to entertainment and manufacturing districts
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her209

her209

No Lifer
Oct 11, 2000
56,336
11
0
Texashiker said:
Certain forms of speech can be limited. When it comes to political speech, then there is an issue.

I see nothing wrong with limiting billboards pointed towards advertizing.

Billboards for political reasons might be sticky issue.

I think it was back in the 1930s, 1940s,,, the US congress passed a law prohibiting those huge roadside signs unless they were next to a business. Companies were putting up so many roadside signs in rural highways, they were getting to be an eye sore. I think it was eleanor roosevelt that was taking a drive through the country, got tired of looking at the signs, and asked her husband if congress could pass a law restricting billboards.

If the federal government can pass a law restricting bill boards, why cant a city?
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Why should political speech advertisement be treated differently than commercial advertisement?

Let me guess, the basis for limiting billboards comes from regulating (interstate) commerce?
 
Texashiker

Texashiker

Lifer
Dec 18, 2010
18,811
198
106
her209 said:
Why should political speech advertisement be treated differently than commercial advertisement?
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Maybe because political speech is held at a higher level of protection then commercial speech?

How many times have you heard of a company having to retract a statement? Like a vitamin company saying certain vitamins help protect against certain diseases. The FDA steps in and makes company stop saying things unless there is sound scientific fact.

People running for political offices can say all kinds of stuff about their opponents. No government agency says "you can not say that about your opponent unless you have sound scientific fact".

~EDIT~

For reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_United_States#Core_political_speech

Commercial speech
Not wholly outside the protection of the First Amendment is speech motivated by profit. Such speech still has expressive value although it is being uttered in a marketplace ordinarily regulated by the state. Restrictions of commercial speech are subject to a four-element intermediate scrutiny. (Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Hudson_Gas_&_Electric_Corp._v._Public_Service_Commission

Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico, in which the Supreme Court determined that it was not unconstitutional for Puerto Rico to restrict commercial advertisement of legal casino gambling to residents
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OutHouse

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
DrPizza said:
However, regulating solely on the basis of the advertisement on the side of the truck likely (imh-ianal-o) violates the first amendment.
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when was the last time you saw a cigarette commercial? or cities that have banned cigarette billboards. even the supreme court wont touch it.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/29/us/justices-choose-not-to-rule-on-cigarette-billboard-ban.html

hell even on the steps of the SCOTUS building its a "No Free Speech Zone" where people are arrested for daring to protest the government. the SCOTUS doenst even allow free speech on its own property.

free speech argument not found.
 
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monovillage

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
8,444
1
0
dmcowen674 said:
You haven't been in a big city then.

Here in Chicago they are all over the place going slow causing traffic jams and park all over the place taking up parking spaces when there aren't that many to begin with.

When I was in Denver they were really bad too. Radio stations using the trucks blaring their station with loudspeakers as well.

Out of control.
Click to expand...

freedom
[free-duhm]   Origin
free·dom
   [free-duhm] Show IPA
noun
1.
the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2.
exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3.
the power to determine action without restraint.
4.
political or national independence.
5.
personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.
Click to expand...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/freedom
 
waggy

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
I hate the fucking things. as DMcowen said they are bad in chicago. We had a gymanstics tourny in downers grove and they were bad t here. last time in chicago it was hard to get around because of the damn things.

I'm starting to see them in Rockford too.
 
sm625

sm625

Diamond Member
May 6, 2011
8,172
137
106
I'm waiting for someone to have an epileptic seizure and cause a 7 care pileup 500 yards down the road from one of those signs.
 
a777pilot

a777pilot

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2011
4,261
21
81
I'm sure this is the most important issue facing the people of the greater LA area.
 
Juddog

Juddog

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2006
7,851
6
81
They are annoying and distracting and should be banned. If you are going to ban drinking and driving, or driving and texting, or driving and talking on the phone, these billboards need to be banned as well.
 
MovingTarget

MovingTarget

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2003
9,002
115
106
Mobile billboards should be banned anyway. They are a public nuisance. There are plenty of other mediums of speech that don't clog our roadways.
 
W

Wreckem

Diamond Member
Sep 23, 2006
9,537
1,103
126
bfdd said:
Infringement of free speech imo. They should fuck off.
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Commercial speech, ie: commercial advertising, or put in other words speech to make profit, which is why political ads aren't commercial speech, has been more or less carved out from the 1st amendment. Commercial speech is protected under the 1st in only limited circumstances.

State Govt's and the Feds have been limiting commercial speech since the founding of the nation. Cities can regulate where billboards can and cannot be placed(they require permits to erect), so yes the city has the power to ban mobile billboards. And even if there was a court challenge against the ban, the city would only need a rational reason for the ban since commercial speech isn't very protected. There are plenty of rational reasons why mobile billboards should be banned from the road.
 
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Fern

Fern

Elite Member
Sep 30, 2003
26,907
174
106
States, counties and municipalities have restrictions on stationary billboards. I don't see why restrictions cannot be (constitutionally) enforced on rolling billboards. I see no real distinction between the two in terms of the 1st amendment.

Now, how they go about actually enforcing may be an issue (although not a 1st, more like the 5th - Due Process). In the OP's article looks like a lot, perhaps too much, discretion allowed to officers. I.e., it's not clear on what basis they ban the billboards.

Fern
 
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