The Gilbertville Don Bosco school district fought the law and the law won. The Iowa D-O-T ordered Don Bosco to tear down the 37 billboards area businesses bought along the outfield of Don Bosco’s baseball and softball diamonds. D-O-T officials say Don Bosco’s advertising display violates the ban on advertising along Iowa’s highways. Don Bosco officials argued the four-by-eight foot placards should stay because to remove them was a violation of constitutionally-protected free speech. The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled the signs are visible from the road and pose a safety threat as folks driving by try to read them. And the high court justices gave a bit of a tongue-lashing to a lower court for trying to “shoehorn” an exemption “that does not fit” for the benefit of the school.
