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Most neighborhoods respect the constitutional right to freedom
of speech ““ but then again, most neighborhoods aren’t
Westwood.
The city of Los Angeles has again cited artist Mike McNeilly for
erecting a large mural on the Westwood Medical Building at the
corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Gayley Avenue, even though the
owner of the building, Jon Muller, has given his consent. In
response, the American Civil Liberties Union has announced that it
will sue the city for infringing on the artist’s right to
free speech ““ and rightly so.
McNeilly’s case is not new. When he hung his first graphic
in 1999, the artist was violating a Los Angeles city ordinance
prohibiting the display of advertisements without a permit along
the Wilshire corridor running from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills.
But since December 2000, the artist’s 120-ft. murals have
been violating another city ordinance co-authored by former
Fifth-District Councilman Mike Feuer, specifically banning murals,
billboards and other large graphics along the corridor.
But why would city officials stand up for a senseless ordinance
that impedes people’s First Amendment right to express
themselves? Because the Westwood community thinks the “visual
blight” of large displays or billboards takes away from the
town’s aesthetic appeal, especially if the murals contain
unpopular political content that may jeopardize property demand and
value.
The controversy started in February 1999 when McNeilly was
ordered to stop painting a mural of the Statue of Liberty. In
response, he painted a tear drop under the eye of the unfinished
Lady Liberty and hung a large “Censored” banner in
protest of the city’s action.
But McNeilly’s murals have not all been political. Many of
the murals have displayed commercial advertisements for such things
as the movie “Pearl Harbor” and Disney’s
“Lizzy McGuire.” More recently, McNeilly has hung two
murals paying tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 attack, with
the building currently displaying a mural titled “Justice
9-11.”
The city’s rationale for asking the artist to take down
the signs oversimplifies the issue. A spokeswoman for the city
attorney’s office said the signs “are meaningful but
they’re illegal” and that McNeilly should “just
hang them somewhere else.” The mural’s size and
location are as important to McNeilly’s message as their
content. To ask McNeilly to change any of these would still violate
his constitutional rights. Whether the murals contain political
opinion or advertisement makes no difference ““ suppressing
one form of speech opens the door to suppressing all forms of
speech.
Even though McNeilly’s art invades the “scenic
corridor” of Wilshire Boulevard and can be an eyesore to
some, residents and city officials cannot expect Westwood and
Wilshire to look and feel the same forever. Westwood has already
grown to accommodate large chain stores like The Gap, Ralphs and
now Best Buy. The movie theaters are a large advertising presence
in the village as well.
As it stands, the law discriminates against businesses like the
Westwood Medical Building who support McNeilly and is in favor of
home and business owners who don’t. Eliminating the law would
eliminate discrimination. It is more important to protect our
constitutional liberties than the “scenic highway” that
is Wilshire Boulevard.