ABSTRACT
In City of Ladue v. Gilleo, 512 US 43, the US Supreme Court considered a First Amendment challenge to a local ban on residential signs. The case pitted an individual's right to free political speech against the city government's interest in fostering pleasing aesthetics in the community. Margaret Gilleo, a homeowner, had erected a yard sign protesting the 1991 Gulf War. Claiming free speech protection, Gilleo won a preliminary injunction in federal district court and subsequently posted another pro- peace sign in a window of her home. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens reasoned that determining whether the ban was underinclusive did not necessarily resolve Gilleo's claimed right to display a political message on her property. Gilleo amended her claim and again filed suit. Both the district and appellate courts declared the revised ordinance unconstitutional, finding that it was content-based discrimination and unsupported by any compelling state interests.
