Federal judge grants preliminary injunction in Pinocci candidate sign case
A political sign for Montana Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci, R-Sun River, is displayed near Stanford, Montana, nearby a welcome sign from the Stanford 4H (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).
A federal judge in Montana has issued a preliminary injunction against the Montana Department of Transportation prohibiting it from ordering political signage along the state’s highways and roads to be taken down within two weeks after an election.
The lawsuit was a vindication for embattled Montana Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci of Sun River, who brought the case when several of his supporters received complaint letters from the MDOT ordering Pinocci’s signs removed from their private property or risk having them taken down by state staff, and being billed for the removal.
Pinocci filed suit in federal court, and on Monday, Judge Dana L. Christensen agreed with Pinocci that MDOT had likely violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by prohibiting political speech. Pinocci and two of his supporters are being represented by attorney Matthew Monforton of Bozeman.
“Political speech — including the endorsement of candidates for office — is at the core of speech protected by the First Amendment,” Christensen said.
In addition to being a current member of the all-Republican Montana Public Service Commission, Pinocci is a former lawmaker who cannot seek re-election to the utility regulatory body because of term limits. He is currently running, along with Republican Tanner Smith, as a candidate for lieutenant governor against the incumbent Republican duo of Gov. Greg Gianforte and Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras.
Other legal troubles have also plagued Pinocci, including a pending felony charge of witness tampering, after an apparent disagreement with a tenant to whom Pinocci rented property.
In his ruling, Christensen said that political speech was among the most important parts of the First Amendment, and as such, it enjoys broad protection. He pointed out that the state, if it tries to curb political speech, must do so in a way that’s narrowly tailored to suit a compelling interest. In this case, Christensen said, neither of those things was true.
However, the Montana Department of Transportation, had recently proposed a change in administrative rules that would eliminate the “durational limits” in Montana law. As the current law stands, candidates for public office must remove signs within 14 days or risk having them removed by state staff and charged to the property owner.
“Indeed (the MDOT interim director Larry Flynn) is unlikely to prove that the durational limits on political signage are narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest, let alone, narrowly tailored to a compelling governmental interest,” Christensen said.
That administrative rule, though, is currently in the process of being changed. The change would eliminate the time element in the rule. However, even if Montana’s law was unclear about how quickly candidates or property owners would have to remove signs, Christensen said the possibility of the state meddling with political speech, property owners and election signs could happen again, making it necessary to issue a preliminary injunction and continue to the court case.
Meanwhile, the Montana Department of Transportation argued that it was unnecessary to get a court order to stop the rule because after the lawsuit was filed, the office said it was holding off on enforcing the law until the resolution of the case.
“The Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit have repeatedly held that ‘the loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury,’” Christensen said.
In addition to issuing a preliminary injunction to stop MDOT from enforcing the sign policy, Christensen said that Pinocci would not have to post a performance bond, which is sometimes posted in court to pay for any damages incurred as part of the lawsuit.
“There is no realistic likelihood of harm to the defendant,” Christensen said of the state’s Department of Transportation.
The post Federal judge grants preliminary injunction in Pinocci candidate sign case appeared first on Daily Montanan.
