Reed v. Gilbert
The Court Rules That Content-Based Sign Codes Are Unconstitutional
Reed v. Gilbert was featured in Free Speech on Signs, Supreme Court Debates (Feb. 2015). The following is excerpted from the summary of the unanimous opinion written by Justice Thomas, as prepared by the Court Reporter of Decisions: The Sign Code’s provisions are content-based regulations of speech that do not survive strict scrutiny. Because content-based laws target speech based on its communicative content, they are presumptively unconstitutional and may be justified only if the government proves that they are narrowly tailored to serve compelling State interests. Speech regulation is content-based if a law applies to particular speech because of the…
