Circuit Court Strikes Down St. Louis Sign Ordinance

Judges rule ordinance fails to provide fair notice of what kind of signs are in violation.

A St. Louis ordinance prohibiting signs that impede traffic or pedestrians does not give people fair notice of what is prohibited and chills protected First Amendment activity, a federal appeals court has ruled.

In February 2009, Donald Stahl, a member of a group called "9/11 Questions Group," gathered with two other protesters and held signs on the Park Avenue overpass, located over the merger of Interstates 44 and 55. Stahl and another person held up a sign that read "911 was an inside job."