Maldonado

I. BACKGROUND

Maldonado has had a long-running dispute with the Cali- fornia Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”) over the use of a billboard on his property. In the early 1990s, he MALDONADO v. KEMPTON 2151 purchased property in Redwood City, California, that is adja- cent to U.S. Highway 101. This land is in an area of Highway 101 that has been classified as “landscaped freeway.” In 1993, Maldonado applied to Caltrans for a permit to use his bill- board for offsite advertising. Because California’s Outdoor Advertising Act (“COAA”) bars property owners from using billboards along a landscaped freeway to advertise for offsite businesses, Caltrans denied the application. See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 5440, 5442. Maldonado’s efforts to skirt the offsite advertising ban have resulted in lengthy litigation at the state and federal level over the last ten years.

After Maldonado continued using the billboard for offsite advertising despite numerous citations, Caltrans sued him in California state court for nuisance. See People v. Maldonado, 86 Cal. App. 4th 1225, 1228-29 (Cal. Ct. App. 2001). The state court trial judge found in favor of Caltrans and enjoined…