Poplar Bluff settles suit over handbill ordinance

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- This Southeast Missouri town has settled a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a man who was ticketed for placing handbills on vehicles without a permit.

The ACLU on Thursday announced the settlement between Poplar Bluff and local resident Brian Becker, who was cited for violating an ordinance forbidding the distribution of leaflets on vehicles without the owner's permission.

Becker opposed a $20 million bond initiative for sewer upgrades and voiced that opposition through the handbills in November.

The city has rescinded that ordinance, and as part of the settlement agreed not to re-enact the measure and will drop all investigations against Becker.