California agency makes U-turn on highway banners

By The Associated Press

09.28.02

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SAN FRANCISCO — Banners, flags and anything else hung above California's highways will be removed as a safety precaution, a reversal of how the state Department of Transportation said it would comply with a judge's order, an agency spokesman said this week.

Earlier this month, Caltrans said it would treat all materials equally by leaving up all flags and banners that did not pose a safety hazard. Prior to January's court order, Caltrans' policy had been to remove all signs except for American flags.

The two women who brought the lawsuit against Caltrans for taking down their anti-war signs say the agency is trying to squelch their message.

"They are disturbed because we are exercising our right to free speech," plaintiff Cassandra Brown said Sept. 23.

Caltrans spokesman Dennis Trujillo denied that allegation.

"Safety has always been our concern," he said.

Judge Ronald Whyte of U.S. District Court in San Jose issued the order in response to a lawsuit brought last year by Brown and Amy Courtney. They argued their anti-war banners were taken down because of their content, while American flags were allowed to remain.

Whyte ordered the agency to enforce its rules on a content- and viewpoint-neutral basis, saying the agency could not grant exemptions for American flags. Last week, Caltrans agreed to leave banners up as long as they did not pose safety hazards.

Since then, Trujillo said the department has received a number of comments from the public expressing concern over safety hazards posed by hanging banners and signs from highway overpasses.

"Overpasses and the highway system are not designed as places to congregate or post messages," Trujillo said. "We had numerous accounts of increased proliferation of banners that created concern."

He said the department is complying with the judge's order while hoping to have it overturned on appeal — the agency wants to leave alone American flags that are posted in places they consider safe. The appeal is scheduled to be heard Oct. 9 in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Nathan Benjamin, an attorney for Brown and Courtney, said he was not surprised by Caltrans' decision.

"The sum total of all this is that my clients' right to speech continues to be chilled, while others continue to be allowed to express themselves in the form of the display of flags," he said.

Courtney and Brown hung a banner in November that read "At What Cost?" next to an American flag on an overpass, in protest of the use of force by the United States in the Middle East. The sign was taken down by a police officer, and a second sign also was removed.

Last week the women hung another anti-war banner on a pedestrian walkway over U.S. 101 heading into San Francisco.

"I feel our messages are not more distracting than a billboard," Brown said. "It's obvious that Caltrans is fighting against free speech."

Trujillo said Caltrans has issued an order telling staff to remove any displays during routine maintenance, but that no special efforts should be made to remove them.

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California agency complies with order to treat all highway banners alike
Caltrans agrees to leave up signs — including two women's protest banners — while pursuing appeal.  09.20.02