CALTRANS BANS BANNERS AGAIN

Safety Concern Cited After Dozens Went Up Over The Weekend

Unwilling to let its freeway overpasses turn into billboards for political
messages, Caltrans officials ordered road crews Monday to remove all
banners and U.S. flags from the structures.

Officials from the state Department of Transportation said last week that
they would allow banners to be hung alongside American flags as long as
they posed no safety concerns. But Monday, the agency reversed course after
groups hung dozens of banners throughout the state with messages about
medical marijuana, anti-smoking campaigns and even the proposed secession
of the San Fernando Valley from Los Angeles.

"We didn't anticipate that there would be some miscommunication or
misinterpretation of the ruling and that people would be encouraged to use
the freeways as billboards," said Caltrans spokesman Dennis Trujillo.
"Overpasses, bridges and the state highways are not designed as places for
people to congregate."

The agency was sued in December by two women from Santa Cruz who hung
banners protesting the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan next to
American flags. The banners were removed but not the flags, prompting Amy
Courtney and Cassandra Brown to sue on the grounds their First Amendment
right to free speech had been violated.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte ruled in January that Caltrans could not
allow the American flag on its overpasses while removing other banners.
After the ruling, Caltrans officials decided to remove all flags and
banners while they pondered their legal options.

Earlier this month, Caltrans said in a court filing that it would allow the
banners and flags to hang from overpasses until its appeal of Whyte's
decision is considered on Oct. 9.

Courtney and Brown saw the court filing and mobilized a group of anti- war
activists last week to hang more than a dozen banners from Santa Cruz to
San Francisco, protesting a possible U.S. attack on Iraq. The ensuing
publicity prompted other groups to drape signs from overpasses throughout
the state.

Trujillo said Caltrans officials received numerous complaints about the
banners and decided to take them down because of safety concerns. Some of
the banners caused distractions for motorists who tried to read them as
they drove past, Trujillo said.

There were no reports of accidents or injuries to those who hung the banners.

Many of the banners were removed or defaced before Monday's decision, but
not by Caltrans employees, Trujillo said. Workers will take down the
remaining banners and flags during their normal course of duties, he said.

Lawsuit plaintiff Brown said banners are no more distracting to drivers
than billboards and that Caltrans' decision was based on its disapproval of
the messages on the banners.

"I think it's clear that it's about the message," she said. "Why is it
unsafe for the American public to question this headlong rush into a war
with Iraq? Maybe these questions about this war are hard for the American
public and Caltrans to face."