WE
ARE THE NATIONAL LAW FIRM FOR LIBERTY.
Nick
Sibilla, Contributor
How
people respond to criticism can reveal a lot about their character. Some
might try to debate or reason with those they disagree with. Others
prefer to ignore critics. City officials in Honolulu take a different
approach: They use a bulldozer.
Choon
James is a successful real estate broker with over two decades of experience in
Hawaii. But the city of Honolulu is seeking to seize property she’s owned
for almost a decade to build what she calls a “super-sized” fire station in rural Hauula.
Since
January 2010, she has put up signs to protest Honolulu’s use of eminent
domain. These signs declare “Eminent Domain Abuse: Who’s Next?” and
“YouTube Eminent Domain Abuse—Hawaii.” For more than three years these
signs have been up without any incident.
But
now the city is showing a callous disregard for Choon’s freedom of
speech. Back in May, Honolulu seized two of her eminent
domain protest signs. Without her consent, city employees went
onto the property and seized and impounded her signs before damaging them. Even
worse, the city slapped her with a notice for trespassing, for property she is
trying to defend in court.
After
these signs were torn down, Choon placed three more signs there. These
lasted just a few months before the city once again seized the signs.
This time, Honolulu was much more dramatic. On October 18, city workers,
backed by police officers, squad cars and a bulldozer, came by and literally bulldozed those protest signs.
The
city’s actions show a shameful lack of respect for the First and Fourth
Amendments. Citizens have a right to protest government actions.
The First Amendment was enacted precisely to protect citizens who criticize the
government from retaliation. Lawsuits challenging Honolulu’s unreasonable
seizures and chilling attacks on free speech are now pending in federal court.
Unfortunately,
Honolulu is not alone in trying to silence critics who question eminent domain.
The Institute for Justice has represented
citizens in St. Louis, Mo., Norfolk, Va., Tennessee, and Texas who protested
abusive property seizures and faced censorship. Out of these four cases,
IJ successfully defended free speech in three cases, while the fourth is
currently in litigation.
After
24 of his buildings were taken by St. Louis, Jim Roos painted a giant mural on
a building he owned advocating “End Eminent Domain Abuse.”
But St. Louis labeled the mural an “illegal sign” and wanted to force Jim to
remove the sign (and stifle his right to protest) or face code
violations. He teamed up with the Institute for Justice and sued the
city. In a major win for the First Amendment,
in July 2011, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Jim
and allowed the mural to stay up.
In
a similar vein, IJ has defended grassroots activists from a
frivolous defamation lawsuit and protected an investigative
journalist’s right to free speech from a vindictive private
developer.
More
recently, the Institute for Justice is suing the city of Norfolk for trying to
squash a small business owner’s eminent domain protest sign. The Central
Radio Company, a repair shop, has been in Norfolk for almost eight decades.
But Norfolk had plans to seize the property with eminent domain for a
private redevelopment project.
To
protest, owner Bob Wilson displayed a huge banner on-site. The city
responded by telling Bob he had to take down the sign or face fines of up to
$1,000 per day. Fortunately, the Virginia Supreme Court unanimously struck down
the city’s attempt to seize Bob’s land; his free speech case is still in federal court.
As
the cases make clear, courts routinely respect Americans’ First Amendment
rights. Honolulu should do the same.
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