A member's city plans to post home addresses on a website for people to drive to see. They are calling this event "The Holiday of Homes Tour." Homeowners will decorate their homes to show their holiday spirit. Residents will supply their addresses to the city; participation is free and 100% voluntary. To participate, however, the city will require the participants to display "holiday-themed, family-friendly decorations that appeal to a wide audience." If the city receives reports that a home is not "family-friendly," the city will remove that home from the website but allow the homeowner to continue to display their decorations. The member is concerned that if a person is removed from the city website, they might claim that the city violated their First Amendment rights.
What do folks think? Would this be seen as government speech or would the homeowner have a valid First Amendment claim? Anyone else have a similar program? Send me your responses to akarras@imla.orgmailto:akarras@imla.org and I'll pass them along.
Thanks,
Amanda
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Amanda Karras (she/her)
Executive Director / General Counsel
International Municipal Lawyers Association
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