Here, the ACLU represented taxpayers Doyle James Saylor and Ana B. Patten, who sought to have Section 675(b) of the San Francisco Municipal Police Code, which "broadly proscribes the posting of signs on 'property owned or controlled by the City and County of San Francisco'" declared unconstitutional. Section 675(b) excludes "Christmas decorations, signs or banners of non-profit merchant groups, and signs promoting a parade or cultural event." The ACLU calls this "preferential treatment of freedom of expression" and argue that it violates the Fist Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and certain provisions of the California Constitution.

The sign in question pertained to a controversial proposition on the June 1980 ballot which was referred to as the "Tax the Corporations" Proposition. The ACLU argued that this prohibition is undoubtedly, according to the California Supreme Court, a form of expression protected by the First Amendment.

In response, the court writes: "Defendants alleged sign posting has been declared unlawful because of the message conveyed by the sign." While their freedom of expression is consitutionally protected, the court argues that it has no jurisdiction to try an offense charged under such a statute under Penal Code Section 1004(1).