Asian-Americans File Suit Over Pomona Law on Signs

A group of Asian-American entrepreneurs has sued Pomona, challenging the constitutionality of a city ordinance prohibiting the display of commercial signs written entirely in foreign characters.

The Asian-American Business Group, made up of about a dozen business people who filed the lawsuit Friday, contends that the ordinance enacted last November violates the members’ constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection under the law. The ordinance requires that if commercial and manufacturing establishments display signs in foreign characters they must devote half the sign’s space to English language characters.

Pomona City Atty. Patrick Sampson defended the ordinance, saying that it requires only that English letters, not the English language, be used.

“The ordinance is constitutional,” he said. “We simply require English letters so businesses are identifiable to fire and police for public safety reasons. We can’t have incomprehensible signs.”

But the Asian-American plaintiffs claim that the ordinance interferes with their right to advertise in their native languages. The lawsuit said the group is dedicated to preserving freedom of speech of all Asian-Americans, many of whom “live, shop, work and own businesses” in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys and in Pomona.

Sampson said no sign has yet been found in violation of the ordinance.