Federal judge rules for LePage in lawsuit over mural removal

[Maine-ah]

Source: BDN

BANGOR, Maine — A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Gov. Paul LePage in a lawsuit concerning the governor’s controversial removal of a Department of Labor mural.

In a 90-page opinion, U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. granted motions for summary judgment in favor of LePage and members of his administration. The judge also dismissed two counts of an amended complaint filed by the plaintiffs.

The decision essentially denied a trial of the lawsuit seeking to compel LePage to restore the mural to the walls of the Department of Labor building in Augusta.

“Having concluded that the state of Maine engaged in government speech when it commissioned and displayed the labor mural, it follows that Governor LePage also engaged in government speech when he removed the mural,” Woodcock wrote in his ruling. “The Governor’s message — whether verbal or in the form of the expressive act of removal — is government speech.”

Read more: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbangordailynews.com%2F2012%2F03%2F23%2Fpolitics%2Ffederal-judge-rules-for-lepage-in-lawsuit-over-mural-removal%2F&h=6AQEB6tF1AQEYXLQHZIjOGybKHJmniKEU_N9UJ3XfZL6eQg

[bluedigger]

1. Boo!

[rfranklin]

2. The answer is to remove LePage and restore the mural...

This guy is a fringe candidate who got in by default.

[spartan61]

4. Good point!! n/t

[They_Live]

3. I did not see it mentioned in this article

but I thought there was an issue in this case where the artist had a contract that the piece was to be exhibited for a certain amount of time (?). Or the artist retained ownership of the piece (?). and LePage was in violation of the contract by his actions. I can't remember the details, but I thought the emphasis was originally on contractual obligations and not "freedom of speech".

[appleannie1]

5. And the voters can engage in political speech by casting a vote against LePage next time he runs.

[jpak]

6. "Kiss my butt" is also "government speech" according to LePage.

The mural will be back in January 2015

yup

[LynneSin]

7. You know what this reminds me of.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan

http://afghanistanonmymind.blogspot.com/2011/06/buddhas-of-bamiyan.html

[AlbertCat]

8. What is "government speech"?

And isn't removing the 1st instance of "government speech" censorship?

How can a negative.... removing something... be "saying" something? It's silence. Shouldn't he just put up a mural of his own while leaving the other mural alone, so as not to censor the other "government speech"?

[onenote]

9. Government speech doctrine:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/government_speech
I haven't read the opinion, but on the face of the situation, it doesn't seem unreasonable.

And a negative clearly can be viewed as speech. If not, it wouldn't violate the First Amendment if the government told a library to remove certain books or told a movie theater to stop showing certain movies.