Mike Mahaney owns Headed West, which sells pipes and smoking accessories in Englewood, Colorado. After Mr. Mahaney painted two murals on the side of his business, the City of Englewood charged a store employee, Michael Allard, with violating the Englewood Sign Code. In addition to defending Mr. Allard, ACLU attorneys filed suit in state district court seeking a declaration that the Sign Code violates the right of free expression, both on its face and as applied to the Headed West murals.  The trial court ruled for Englewood, but the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed and agreed with ACLU that the Englewood sign code violated the First Amendment.  Mahaney v. City of Englewood, 226 P.3d 1214 ( Colo. Ct. App. 2009).

Resources:

ACLU case number

2007-08

Attorney(s)

Thomas MacDonald, James Johnson, Bill Kyriagis, Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado Legal Director

Case number

No. 2007-CV-1373, Arapahoe County District Court; No. 001955M, Englewood Municipal Court