A bill to ban signs on bridges and overpasses was approved by the Denver City Council Monday night despite concerns that the law will limit free speech.
Several council members said that deciding how to vote was a difficult decision, but ultimately concern for drivers’ safety won out. The bill passed on final reading 9-3.
“I really struggled with this issue,” said Councilman Doug Linkhart, who chairs the city’s Safety Committee. “But I think there is a reasonable connection to people showing signs or banners to people going underneath and safety.”
But Councilwoman Kathleen MacKenzie, who voted against the bill, said she was not convinced signs on bridges were a significant distraction.
“I think we shouldn’t restrict speech on any public venue without a really good reason,” MacKenzie said. “I think free speech is under terrible attack in this country … So absent evidence of a problem … I believe it is unnecessary and overbroad.”
The new ordinance actually only codifies what has been an unwritten policy in Denver for years. Citing the distraction and potential danger for drivers, Denver police made it a practice not to allow banners and signs on bridges.
The policy became the subject of a years-long lawsuit after Wendy Faustin – who regularly posted anti-abortion signs on overpasses – was told by police to stop posting banners.
Faustin said the policy was a violation of the First Amendment. But last year the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Denver’s policy, saying the policy met allowance for “time, place and manner” for limiting speech.
Assistant City Attorney Vince DiCroce told council members that the city’s concern was with the safety of drivers. He pointed out that the language in the ordinance only references where the banners are posted, not their possible content.
And police Capt. Eric Rubi called the ordinance a “clear-cut tool” to promote public safety.
The American Civil Liberties Union and others protested the bill.
Mark Cohen, with the All-Nations Alliance, told the council that a sign or banner adds little to the existing “visual cacophony” of billboards and road signs.
But Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth said she supported the bill when she considered the dangerous bottom line:
“We’re talking about people losing their lives here.”
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
