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ACLU Files Suit Over Shop's Mural Fines

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON

spthompson@tampatrib.com

Published: February 25, 2009

The American Civil Liberties Union has taken up the cause of Herb Quintero, the tackle shop owner who was fined by Clearwater after he had a mural of gamefish painted on his shop.

Quintero said he was threatened with additional fines after he covered the mural with a banner-size copy of the First Amendment.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tampa on Tuesday, claiming the mural is a work of art and exempt from city codes dictating commercial sign requirements. The $690 Quintero has paid in court costs and fines stems from the city's position that the mural is not art but rather a sign related to his business.

To support its case, the ACLU lists two other businesses in Clearwater with murals that have not drawn fines because the murals are considered art. God's Little Green Acre Daycare Center has two outside murals depicting children, animals and a religious figure, and Frenchy's Salt Water Cafe has a fish mural on its exterior wall, the lawsuit states.

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