# City of Seattle v. Mighty Movers, Inc.

> Washington Supreme Court · September 9, 2004 · 152 Wash. 2d 343

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4713004

## Case

- **Full name:** The City of Seattle v. Mighty Movers, Inc.
- **Court:** Washington Supreme Court
- **Decided:** September 9, 2004
- **Citations:** 152 Wash. 2d 343; 96 P.3d 979
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Alexander
- **Judges:** Alexander, Madsen, Sanders
- **Cited by:** 38 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4713004

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- finding that utility poles are not 12 public forums, but noting that “based upon federal cases, this court determined that 13 parking strips are public forums.”

## Opinion text

Alexander, C.J.
(concurring) — I agree with the majority that Seattle’s public utility poles are not a traditional public forum as defined by our state constitution. As it points out, the restrictions imposed since 1953 by RCW 70.54.090 belie the notion that utility poles are such a forum. Majority at 357-58. Although the survey of historical photographs cited by the dissent is somewhat compelling, this evidence does not, in my view, trump a statutory restriction that has been in place for half a century. I, therefore, join the majority opinion.
I write separately simply to express my disagreement with the majority opinion to the extent it suggests that we *364 are bound by a decision of the United States Supreme Court holding that public utility poles are not a traditional public forum under the first amendment to the federal constitution. Majority at 356. Although we have adopted the federal court’s analysis for determining whether a particular location is a traditional public forum, see City of Seattle v. Huff, 111 Wn.2d 923, 927-28 , 767 P.2d 572 (1989), that does not mean that we must reach the same conclusion under our state constitution.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4713004. Public record. Not legal advice.