Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, June 21, 2013
Maui County Sued over Sign-Waving Regs
By News Release @ 2:27 PM :: 3739 Views :: First Amendment

ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Maui County Over Sign Restrictions

News Release from ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii ("ACLU") has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of the ACLUʻs members and Maui plaintiffs Chuck Carletta and Mele Stokesberry. The suit, against the County of Maui ("County"), seeks immediate changes to County laws that prohibit people from displaying signs on sidewalks and along roadways.

At issue is Maui County Code section 12.42.030, which prohibits sign-waving within 50 feet of any traffic control signal, twenty feet of a pedestrian crosswalk, or six feet of the edge of the pavement or other surface of the highway.

In January 2013, the County threatened to enforce this ordinance against a group of protesters. At the same time, however, the County's own police officers violate these laws by regularly holding demonstrations about the dangers of drunk and distracted driving; indeed, just a few months before threatening to enforce the ordinance against the Plaintiffs and other protesters, Maui Police Department officers had engaged in sign-waving with children and adults along busy Maui roads.

The ACLU contacted Maui County to amend the unlawful ordinance. The County refused, leading to today's lawsuit.

Maui Peace Action activist Chuck Carletta, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said: "More than any other holiday, Martin Luther King day is a meaningful time to exercise our rights to free speech. It is also a day to celebrate Dr. King and the civil rights and peace movements that he sacrificed his life for. We were stunned when we found out that the Maui County Police department was threatening to issue tickets to anyone in this year's march carrying a sign with any written messages!"

Mele Stokesberry, Maui Peace Action founder and a co-plaintiff in the case stated:  "We have participated in many marches on Maui, and we have always carried signs expressing our ideas as we saw fit.  We carried our signs in the march in January, as did many others, in spite of the threats and we are delighted that the ACLU of Hawaii is willing to stand up for us and to seek to overturn this egregious ordinance."

"The law at issue is so broad that it effectively prohibits campaign sign-waving, protests, picketing, parades, or other demonstrations across large portions of three islands," said ACLU of Hawaii Senior Staff Attorney Daniel Gluck. "It is illegal for County officials to enforce these rules against some protesters but not against others, and it is illegal for the County to allow police officers to break the rules for messages the County supports."

LINK: copy of the complaint (pdf)

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii