Judge Strikes Down Attack on Free Speech by NFL, Phoenix
4th February 2023
The high and mighty NFL and City of Phoenix thought they could restrict free speech in Arizona’s capital city. They thought wrong. A judge on Friday smacked down their attempts to allow only Super Bowl-related messaging for businesses in the weeks leading up to the league’s championship game.
While cozying up to the NFL in the run-up to the Feb. 12 Super Bowl, the lefties who run city government in Phoenix passed the “Super Bowl Censorship Ordinance’’ to restrict business sign messaging to only Super Bowl-related language.
An Arizona trial court judge, Bradley Astrowski, ripped apart that blatant attack on free speech, declaring the ordinance “an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech and an unconstitutional delegation of power.” The city was given 48 hours to review the plaintiffs’ request to advertise in his own business window space that he has property available for leasing. Bramley Paulin was represented in his lawsuit by the Goldwater Insitute, a Phoenix-based legal firm that works to advance, defend and strengthen the freedom guaranteed by the U.S. and state Constitutions.