Van Wagner Boston, LLC v. Davey

At issue in this case was the regulation by the state of Massachusetts of the display of billboards and other outdoor signage. Plaintiffs, related companies engaged in the business of erecting and displaying billboards and outdoor signage, brought suit against Massachusetts state agencies and officials charged with administering the regulations, alleging, among other things, that the regulations violated Plaintiff’s free speech rights under the First Amendment. The district court dismissed the First Amendment claim for want of standing. The First Circuit reversed the order dismissing the First Amendment claim, holding that Plaintiffs had standing to proceed with their challenge because the complaint plausibly alleged that Plaintiffs were subject to a regulatory permitting scheme that chilled protected expression by granting a state official unbridled discretion over the licensing of their expressive conduct and that posed a real threat of censorship. View "Van Wagner Boston, LLC v. Davey" on Justia Law