Hats off to the Institute for Justice. They are suing the City of Dallas over the sign ban.
It’s a sign of the times in Dallas that the Dallas City Council is regulating window signs. (Don't they have some hookers or drug dealers to catch?)
That’s right. When the economy there is in a dip, and businesses are advertising sales, the City steps in and puts a halt to it.
The Institute for Justice has come to the rescue.
"These businesses rely on these window signs to stay in business and tell customers what they do, and we think they have a First Amendment right to do so," explained Matt Miller, executive director of the Institute for Justice Texas Chapter.
IJ has recommended businesses put a sign in their window: Free Speech for Small Business. IJ claims the ban is a violation of free speech. We know it is an overreaching government.
Last fall, Dallas City Council outlawed advertisements in the upper two-thirds of store windows and glass doors in an effort to reduce clutter and make it easier for police to see inside while patrolling and during emergencies.
Mind you, most of us would see signs at eye level (or the upper two-thirds of the store windows) and not at ground level. After all, signs are meant to be seen.
But Dallas officials just don’t get it.
"There's all types of new technology. You have the Yellow Pages. You have Web sites. There's all types of ways to advertise your business," said Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/New-protest-planned-against-Dallas-sign-ordinance-85163027.html
Caraway is owner of an advertising and consulting business. Is there some conflict of interest here? If businesses can’t post signs on their storefronts which are easily read, they might need to pay for advertising. Shame on you, Dwaine!
Great video from IJ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWtWh6On1DM
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