On The Front Lines
VICTORY: At the Urging of The Rutherford Institute, Congressman Perriello Rescinds Prohibition on Signs at Town Hall Meetings
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- After being called to account for a ban on signs at town hall meetings, which The Rutherford Institute decried as "an act of outright censorship that raises grave constitutional concerns," Congressman Tom Perriello (D-VA) has agreed to lift the prohibition. The Rutherford Institute had urged the congressman to rescind the prohibition or face possible legal action.
The Rutherford Institute's letter regarding Congressman Perriello's sign ban at town hall meetings is available here.
"I'm glad Congressman Perriello has decided to respect the First Amendment rights of all of his constituents," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "This is a victory for free speech."
In his capacity as a public official, Congressman Tom Perriello has held and continues to hold town hall meetings funded by public taxpayer funds in public buildings situated on public property, such as Scottsville Elementary School and the Campbell County Board of Supervisors meeting room.
In July 2010, Perriello announced that a town hall meeting series would be held between August 4 and September 13 at various public buildings in Virginia's 5th Congressional District. However, purportedly in an effort "to ensure a pleasant atmosphere" and allow constituents "to interact with their congressman without partisan politics getting in the way," Perriello adopted a prohibition on all signs in the meeting room.
Yet as Whitehead pointed out in an August 18 letter to Perriello, these are not private events. "Rather, they are government-sponsored forums whose very purpose is to engender communication with one's constituents on matters of public concern." Furthermore, the First Amendment forbids government officials from imposing absolute prohibitions on a particular kind of expression in public forums of this kind. And finally, the U.S. Supreme Court declared a similarly overbroad ban on signs within a public forum to be unconstitutional in 1983.
Thus, Whitehead asserted, far from enhancing expression, Perriello's ban on signs violated his constituents' First Amendment right to free speech and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Whitehead closed his letter to Perriello by reminding the congressman that "[a]s a representative of the people of the 5th district of Virginia, it is your sworn duty to see that your constituents' constitutional rights are protected."
