A small Presbyterian church yesterday filed suit in federal court against the town of Gilbert, Arizona challenging the town's sign ordinance as discriminatory. A release by the Alliance Defense Fund says that "according to the code, religious assembly signs are required to be smaller in size, fewer in number, and displayed for much less time than similar non-religious signs. Also, according to the ordinance, ideological signs and political signs--neither of which the code defines--are allowed to be posted without a permit, whereas a permit is required to post religious assembly signs."
The complaint (full text) alleges that the church interprets the Bible as requiring it to reach out to the community to advertise its services. The suit claims that the town, by limiting the number of hours during which signs advertising church's services can be displayed, violates the speech, religion, equal protection and due process clauses of the federal constitution and the Arizona Religious Freedom Amendment.
