BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A federal judge has granted a reprieve to the owners of a Mandan bar fighting to preserve a mural at their business.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday two days after the owners of Lonesome Dove filed a lawsuit against the city of Mandan over the mural city officials ordered removed.
Bar owners Brian Berube and August “Augie” Kersten were cited for have an unpermitted, Western-themed mural on the outside of the bar. The Bismarck Tribune says Berube and Kersten were unaware of the permit, later applied and were denied because city ordinance states “no mural may be placed on the front of the building.”
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The judge says “such a content-based restriction on speech as Mandan has enacted is unlikely to survive constitutional muster.” He scheduled a settlement conference for June 4.
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
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