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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Court refuses case; sky banner ban stays

By Brian Charlton
Associated Press

OTHER CASES

In other Supreme Court action yesterday, justices:

  • Heard arguments over voluntary school desegregation plans in Seattle and Louisville, Ky. A majority of the court seemed highly skeptical that race can be used even as a "tipping factor" in the decision to move students around to produce racially diverse schools.

  • Rejected the case of a man serving a mandatory 55-year prison term for carrying a handgun during three marijuana deals, a sentence condemned as excessive by the federal judge who imposed it.

  • Turned down a request by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to dismiss a lawsuit by a Filipino lawyer and longtime smoker.

  • Declined to hear a lawsuit by parents against a California school district. The parents said their constitutional rights were violated by a sex survey given to students.

  • Turned down the case of two Maine Maritime Academy graduates caught up in a state crackdown on tax cheats. At sea for months at a time, the two were indicted for failing to pay taxes and tax evasion.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday refused to consider the case of an anti-abortion group seeking to fly planes over Honolulu towing aerial banners with images of aborted fetuses.

    The refusal means Honolulu will be able to continue to ban aerial tow-banner operations.

    The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge's ruling that the city's ordinance does not violate the First Amendment and is a "reasonable and viewpoint-neutral restriction on speech in a nonpublic forum."

    The group has other means of conveying its message, the appeals court said.

    The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform has flown its advocacy ads over many other states and argued it should be able to do the same over O'ahu.

    The anti-abortion group said it was disappointed but won't give up its quest to fly planes over the island.

    "We're not going away," said Gregg Cunningham, director of the Orange County, Calif.-based group. "This case is a very long way from being over."

    Hawai'i allows no billboards or other prominent outdoor advertising, although murals of whales and the ocean adorn the sides of buildings. The city banned aerial advertising in 1978.

    Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann said city officials are elated with the high-court action: "It vindicates the economic, aesthetic and safety justifications advanced all along by the city in support of the ordinance.

    "Honolulu's ban on aerial advertising is intended to protect the city's world-famous scenic beauty and its attractiveness as a tourist destination, and also serves to prevent potentially dangerous traffic distractions," he said.

    Advertiser staff writer Robbie Dingeman contributed to this report.