FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2007
CONTACTS:
Liz Ilg, Cleveland Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action,
(216) 861-5200 (office), (216) 333-4838 (cell),
lilg@ohiocitizen.org
Ed Icove, Attorney at Law, Icove Legal Group, Ltd.,
(216) 802-0000 (office), (216) 536-5730 (cell),
ed@icovelegal.com
Ohio Citizen Action tells court Newburgh Heights violated First Amendment by
removing yard signs protesting Mittal Steel pollution
CLEVELAND –Albert Anderson, a 13 year resident of Newburgh Heights, and Ohio
Citizen Action, the state’s largest environmental organization, today asked a federal court
to overturn Newburgh Heights’ ordinance restricting the placement of yard signs at
residents’ homes. The lawsuit cites violations of the First Amendment, and relies on a
unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1994 protecting the rights of citizens
to put up political yard signs (City of Ladue v. Gilleo, 512 43, 54 (1994)). The case was
assigned to Judge James S. Gwin.
The case has arisen because Newburgh Heights removed yard signs from the homes of
Mr. Anderson and other Newburgh Heights residents earlier this month without their
permission. The yard signs are part of Ohio Citizen Action’s campaign to prevent
pollution from Mittal Steel’s giant steel mill in the Flats and read: “Mittal Steel: Clean
Up for Real.”
The village has claimed that residents are not permitted to display the
signs under the terms of its local ordinance.
Over 600 residents in Cleveland and surrounding communities have put up the yard signs
in the past month. According to Ohio Citizen Action records, approximately fifteen were
up at the homes of Newburgh Heights residents before they were removed by the city
service department. Newburgh Heights, which is adjacent to the steel mill, is the only
municipality which has removed the signs.
For a copy of the lawsuit and more information on Ohio Citizen Action’s “good neighbor
campaign” urging Mittal Steel to prevent pollution, visit www.ohiocitizen.org.
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