 Additionally, Justice Thomas rejected the town's assertion that a law is only content based if it "censor [s] or favor [s]" specific viewpoints or ideas. The town argued that its sign code was not unconstitutional because it neither endorsed nor suppressed any particular viewpoints or ideas. However, Justice Thomas clarified that a statute is content-based if it singles out a specific subject, even though it may not target ideas or viewpoints within that subject matter. Furthermore, he also rejected the Ninth Circuit's conclusion that the ordinance was content-neutral because it targeted specific classes of speakers, rather than the content of their speech. Although he recognized that speaker-based restrictions were only "the beginning — not the end — of the inquiry", Justice Thomas held that "laws favoring some speakers over others demand strict scrutiny when the legislature ’ s speaker preference reflects a content preference".
