Opinion ID: 591208
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The temporary permit bond requirements

Text: 44 Section 26-18 of the Douglasville Code authorizes temporary permits for instructional and political signs to be placed on the streets of the city, ... whereby the public will be directed to a specific place or event or a specific political candidate or political issue. The applicant for such a permit must post a $500 bond to ensure that the signs are removed within 10 days following the event the signs advertise. 45 Messer argues that this requirement burdens applicants to post political signs with a financial requirement not applicable to others, and thus is a limitation on the fundamental right of political speech. We find no truth in this assertion. The bond requirement burdens all signs regarding events of a temporary nature. 46 Messer also argues that the regulation is not sufficiently narrowly tailored to pass constitutional muster as other alternatives exist to ensure that temporary signs are removed. However, it is not necessary to pass the least restrictive regulation possible. [T]he regulation will not be invalid simply because a court concludes that the government's interest could be adequately served by some less-speech-restrictive alternative. Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781, 800, 109 S.Ct. 2746, 2758, 105 L.Ed.2d 661 (1989). Thus, even if there exists narrower means of achieving the government's purpose, as Messer suggests, because this regulation is not substantially broader than necessary, the regulation is upheld.