Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc. v. City & County of Honolulu

ORDER AND AMENDED OPINION

ORDER

The Opinion filed on May 23, 2006, is amended as follows:

With these amendments, the panel has voted to deny the petition for panel rehearing. Judges McKeown and Clifton vote to deny the petition for rehearing en banc and Judge Bright so recommends. The full court has been advised of the petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc and no judge has requested a vote on whether to rehear the matter en banc. See Fed. R.App. P. 35. The petition for panel rehearing and the petition for rehearing en banc are denied.

OPINION

The City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii (“Honolulu”), has a long history of comprehensive regulatory oversight over its visual landscape, an effort designed to protect the area’s unique and widely-renowned scenic resources. For example, in 1957, Honolulu was among the first municipalities to enact a comprehensive ordinance regulating signs, see State v. Diamond Motors, Inc., 50 Haw. 33 , 429 P.2d 825, 826 (1967), and, in 1978, Honolulu first passed what later became Revised Ordinance of Honolulu § 40-6.1 (1996) (“the Ordinance”), which prohibits aerial advertising.

The question presented in this appeal is whether the Ordinance…