
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990                   TAG: 9004120458
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A13   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO                                LENGTH: Short

COURT: FREE SPEECH APPLIES TO T-SHIRTS

T-shirts or teddy bears inscribed with the message of a political or religious group have the same constitutional protection as books, a federal appeals court ruled.

In a 3-0 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said San Francisco can't prohibit non-profit groups from selling items that convey "core First Amendment messages," such as political or philosophical statements.

The city also can't require those groups to get a permit, issued at the sole discretion of the police chief, to sell message-bearing merchandise, the court said Tuesday. The decision, the first on the issue by any federal appeals court, upholds a 1988 lower-court ruling.

"It's nice that the First Amendment still seems to survive," said Robert Moest, lawyer for five religious and political groups that challenged the San Francisco ordinance. He said the items served an important political function.

"Since the Vietnam War, people have tended to wear T-shirts conveying their beliefs," Moest said. "Organizations sell them to raise funds for their cause. It's a great way to communicate a message."

The city will appeal the ruling, said Deputy City Attorney Burk Delventhal.

The ordinance was backed by shop owners who complained that their prices were being undercut by non-profit street vendors.

The ordinance required non-profit organizations to get a peddler's permit to sell any merchandise except books, leaflets and other items that had no value apart from their messages.

by CNB