By Ginger Adams Otis | The Wall Street Journal
Hands off the doughnuts.
That’s the judge’s order in a battle over a sign atop a New Hampshire bakery that launched a bitter free-speech fight.
The ruling said the town of Conway stepped on the First Amendment rights of Sean Young, owner of Leavitt’s Bakery, when it told him to remove or change a painting over the front entrance. The mural, commissioned by art students from the local high school, features the area’s famous White Mountains as muffins, doughnuts, danishes and other treats that the bakery sells.
Conway had argued the mural was a commercial sign and in violation of the town’s zoning law, and told him to take it down or adjust the size, which at 91 square feet was nearly four times larger than allowed. Young fought back, saying the mural was art, not advertising, and that the town infringed on his First Amendment rights by trying to regulate its content. He filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the town and sought $1 in damages.
