Bakery in New Hampshire wins in free speech case over a pastry shop painting

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By KATHY McCORMACK and LEAH WILLINGHAM
Updated 2:18 PM CDT, May 20, 2025

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire town’s attempt to force a bakery to remove or alter its painting that shows sunbeams shining down on a mountain range of doughnuts, a muffin, a cinnamon roll and other pastries is unconstitutional, a judge ruled in a First Amendment dispute.

The town of Conway infringed on the free speech rights of bakery owner Sean Young, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante ruled Monday, following a one-day trial in February.

He ordered the town to stop any efforts at enforcing its sign code regarding the mural painted by high school students atop Leavitt’s Country Bakery, mentioning a “complete disconnect between what the ordinance purports to regulate and the town’s enforcement, as well as the illogical way it applied and explained that enforcement” to Leavitt’s.

“I’m thrilled that the students’ artwork can remain up, I’m thrilled that my First Amendment rights have been vindicated, and I’m thrilled that the community can continue to enjoy the beautiful piece of art,” Young said in a statement. “I think our mural is a wonderful depiction of everything that makes the Mount Washington Valley such a great place to live.”



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/bakery-doughnuts-painting-free-speech-new-hampshire-c5f8e93abbb13ddc73445bbfa20dbe6f

[hlthe2b]

1. The insanity seems unending...

sigh

[cyclonefence]

2. My glob

No wonder the courts have no time for immigrants to appeal Could there be anything stupider to get your drawers in a twist over? It's not even a proper rainbow!

[malthaussen]

4. Oh, is that what it was about? I wondered, but I just don't have the imagination some people do. n/t

[cyclonefence]

5. Well, I don't know

just a guess. I looked and looked and couldn't find anything else they might object to. I mean, it's amateurish but then high school kids painted it, and somehow I don't think these folks would sue over aesthetic choices.

[sl8]

6. According to the article, it's 4 times larger than the town's limit for signage.

The owner claimed that it was art, not a sign

The zoning board decided that the painting was not so much art as advertising. The board determined it was a sign, and so it could not remain as is because of its size. At about 90 square feet (8.4 square meters), it’s four times bigger than the local sign code allows.

If the painting didn’t show what’s sold inside — baked goods — it wouldn’t be considered a sign and could stay, board members said.

[cyclonefence]

7. So it *was* an aesthetic choice!

I am humbled.

[fujiyamasan]

18. I'm almost relieved it was over a silly beurocratic reason

Like the size of a sign and not because it was showing a rainbow. One indicates a town with dumb red tape laws. The other shows something far more hateful.

[swong19104]

10. Well, c'mon

all those baked goods? Imagine the triglycerides and raised levels of blood sugar levels upon chowing down on them! Such a shop ought to be nuked from space. With lasers, just as the mural depicts.

[cyclonefence]

20. What are you doing on my computer?!

I never heard such blaspheming and downright obscenity suggested on this machine--quick, the needle!

Mother, forgive them for they know not what they say.

[Maraya1969]

8. Ohhhhh Rainbow! My God how stupid!

[sl8]

9. There's no rainbow.

The town said it was too big for a sign. The owner said it wasn't a sign, it was art. The judge agreed with the owner.

[onenote]

21. The judge didn't decide that the mural was art, not a sign.

It's a somewhat weird and confusing opinion. For example, at the outset, the judge states: "The court here does not rule that the sign code is unlawful or unconstitutional as written. Neither does it rule that Conway could not lawfully regulate the Leavitt’s display, or that the display does not violate the sign code as written. Nor does the court rule that the Leavitt’s display is not commercial speech (as it certainly appears to be), that municipalities may not regulate commercial signage like the display at issue here,4 or that the sign code necessarily implicates any particular level or tier of First Amendment scrutiny. The court rules only that Conway’s application of its sign code, and specifically its enforcement of the sign code to the Leavitt’s sign in the particular manner it employed in this case, does not withstand any level of constitutional scrutiny." The decision also refers to that, "the plaintiff’s dubious testimony, that the display is a “mural” (not a sign) solely intended as an artistic expression, and thus not commercial speech.... Of course, it is a sign under the language of the sign code and under the town’s interpretation of its code, and it quite clearly proposes a commercial transaction (the sale of baked goods) at and inside the structure on which it is erected."

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nhd.60707/gov.uscourts.nhd.60707.60.0.pdf

[sl8]

22. I stand corrected.

Last edited Wed May 21, 2025, 04:14 PM - Edit history (1)

Thanks for the explanation and for finding the decision. I looked for it last night, to no avail.

[DoBW]

3. i heard the judge had Danish ancestry

[boonecreek]

11. I see what you did there. nt.

[markodochartaigh]

16. It was just an urban myth that he said that he was a

"Berliner".

[Igel]

29. Ah, you donut say. n/t

[AllaN01Bear]

12. ding.

[BidenRocks]

13. Well, you people suck!

Nothing else going on in town to bitch about?

Okay, I looked. An auto accident and an obit.
They really have nothing else to do except fucking with a bakery.
Is it too "gay"! I bet the kids love it!
Let me take a wild guess and say that you support chump!
Yep. They lean Red.

[sl8]

15. Conway voted for Harris over Trump, 56.6% to 45.5%.

And what makes you think that it was "too 'gay'"?

[BidenRocks]

17. My search shows them leaning red.

Was it too big or was that just an excuse to downsize or remove the artwork. It matches the roof width.
I am cynical of late when it comes to any size government fucking with citizens.
Small town HOA government. We say what goes, or else.
Too much color bothers them.

[orleans]

19. you should've read the article. it's got nothing to do with gay issues or rainbows nt

[kellytore]

14. I live in Kennesaw Ga. and we have a pizza place that painted a beautiful mural

honoring quarterback Justin Fields on the brick wall of the restaurant. Fields went to Kennesaw Mountain High School two miles away, and had just been signed by the Chicago Bears. The city council was not happy with the mural and ordered them to take it down. There was a huge backlash from the people living here so they finally backtracked and allowed the mural to remain. The store owner had to pay a fine for not getting a permit but the mural several years later is still there. Sometimes there is no common sense with these city leaders.

[Vinca]

23. NH has been a nightmare lately. The State GOP lawmakers are going full-on Trump with laws banning everything from books

to hormone treatments to sanctuary cities, etc., etc., etc. They've always been fools, but now they're fools on steroids.

[onenote]

24. This local code provision -- not state -- has been around for a number of years

The court cites examples of the town seeking to enforce its sign code dating back to 2006.

[Vinca]

25. Well, you know the state motto - "Live Free or Die." It's like the myth about no taxes. They get their funding in

other ways by making the prices of permits and licenses higher than other states.

[Igel]

30. Perhaps it's mis-written.

"Live freer ... die."

[CTyankee]

26. What is it with New Hampshire?

It seems that since I've been living in New England I have heard about New Hampshire being more conservative than any other NE state and I could never figure it out. I live in New Haven and I love it and I have grandkids in MA who I visit often.

I'm not a native New Englander; I'm a 3rd generation Texan who left Texas vowing never to return and I love New England and esp. my home town of New Haven. Is there something in New Hampshire's history that made it less liberal than other NE states?

[Bluestocking]

27. Huge vacation spot

Conway attracts vacationers all year long. Skiing in the winter, great mountains rivers and lakes in the summer and fall foliage in the fall. It is not a small town. The traffic is awful in July and August. I have not been there in the fall or winter. It sounds like the town has rules and felt the business violated them. This one is not red vs blue.

[SheltieLover]

28. Wtaf? Sun can't shine on pastries?