HARTFORD, Conn. — The ACLU Foundation of Connecticut filed a lawsuit today in federal district court to stop Department of Transportation and state police officials from forbidding people on streets and sidewalks to display protest signs to drivers on Connecticut’s interstates. Plaintiffs Erin Quinn and Robert Marra ask the court to immediately halt the state’s ongoing suppression of speech on highway overpasses in the New Haven area, where state police have repeatedly ordered protesters to leave, issued tickets, and made arrests based on claims that signs “distract” drivers.
“Public sidewalks are the most protected places we have for free speech,” said Dan Barrett, legal director of the ACLU Foundation of Connecticut. “For about eighty years, the law has been clear that speakers cannot be punished for the reactions of listeners. Connecticut drivers are responsible for their safe driving. And if you’ve driven our interstates, you know how ridiculous it is for the state to permit massive electronic billboards along the highway while claiming that overpass pedestrians cannot display small, homemade signs.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Erin Quinn and Robert Marra, two members of a small group that gets together to peacefully hold signs and wave on highway overpasses above I-95. The group uses various materials to make signs, including individual posterboards and a 15-by-3-foot vinyl banner, and stands on streets and sidewalks that are open to pedestrians with no posted restrictions.
“I joined these protests because I believe every citizen has a right to speak up when they feel our government is headed in the wrong direction,” said Robert Marra. “We stood holding signs with messages focusing on our constitutional rights because it’s one of the simplest, most visible ways to make our voices heard. No one should fear arrest for exercising their First Amendment rights.”
“Rights are only real if people can use them,” Barrett added. “Peacefully holding a protest sign on a sidewalk is as fundamental as it gets. If the government can shut that down, then none of our freedoms are safe. No one is going to save our democracy but us — it’s our responsibility to protect it.”
A series of recent encounters led to dispersal orders, arrests, and prosecutions of peaceful demonstrators. State police have insisted that sign-holders are trespassing, or illegally displaying signs that may distract drivers. Meanwhile, Connecticut allows other roadway signage, including large electronic billboards. The ACLU Foundation of CT’s lawsuit contends that the state’s position is unconstitutional and that overpass sidewalks are traditional public fora where peaceful expressive activity is protected.
More information about the case is available here.
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