Federal appeals court rules that 'eminent-domain' sign is constitutional

The St.Louis Dispatch reports:

A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down at least part of St. Louis' sign ordinance and ruled that a St. Louis man had the right to protest eminent domain with a two-story mural on the side of an apartment building near Soulard.

"I don't gloat over this," said Jim Roos after the decision. "Sometimes laws … hurt people. And if we don't have the right to protest when a law hurts people, we're in bad shape."

Roos said that he commissioned the two-story, 360-square-foot mural out of desperation in 2007 after losing 24 buildings to eminent domain and fearing the loss of more.

The city then ordered him to remove the mural, which proclaims "End Eminent Domain Abuse" inside a red circle with a slash, saying it violated city sign regulations.

Another Institute For Justice victory.