Baldwin Park Free Speech Coalition v. City of Baldwin Park

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Baldwin Park Free Speech Coalition (“FSC”), an association that seeks to promote transparency in local government, and one of its members, plaintiff Richard Ehlers (together, “plaintiffs”), filed this action against the City of Baldwin Park (“the City”) on November 18, 2019, to challenge the constitutionality and prevent the enforcement of portions of the City’s amended sign ordinance, Baldwin Park Municipal Code (““BPMC’”) §§ 153.170.040 and 153.170.060 (the “sign ordinance”). See Dkt. 1 (“Compl.”). Plaintiffs filed a first amended complaint on November 25, 2019. See Dkt. 9 (“FAC”). The FAC alleges that (1) the sign ordinance violates plaintiffs’ rights secured by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as the First Amendment to the California Constitution, by imposing: (a) an unlawful content-based restriction on protected speech, (b) an unlawful prior restraint on protected speech, and (c) an unlawful tax on protected speech. Id. 49-55. The complaint also alleges that the sign ordinance (2) violates plaintiffs’ rights to due process secured by the Fourteenth Amendment, id.…