Court upholds ban
on aerial banners
The city's ban on aerial advertising has withstood a legal challenge mounted by an anti-abortion group that wants to fly large banners over Waikiki.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken rejected yesterday a claim by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform Inc. that the ban violates its First Amendment right to free speech.
The California-based group said it will appeal the ruling.
Aiken held the group has other ways to get its message across and that its need for aerial advertising is outweighed by the city's interest in aesthetics.
"I am not persuaded that merely because aerial tow banners enable them to reach the largest possible audience in the shortest time at the lowest costs, plaintiffs have a constitutional right to use them," she said.
The city has said the group already expresses itself by driving trucks around Honolulu featuring graphic images of aborted fetuses.
To get its message across in other states, the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform has used aerial banners, measuring 50 feet high and 100 feet long, that graphically depict first-term aborted fetuses.
Outdoor Circle President Lester Inouye had sided with the city, saying banner-towing threatens the island's beauty and its visitor industry.
The Outdoor Circle has actively opposed aerial billboards and airplane banner-towing since the 1960s.
