Posted on 07/17/2021 8:32:22 AM PDT by lightman
A municipal judge on Thursday ruled that a Roselle Park, N.J. homeowner’s owner’s anti- President Biden flags including the F-bomb on her fence were obscene and must be removed because they violated a borough ordinance.
Roselle Park Municipal Court Judge Gary Bundy ordered the Willow Avenue homeowner to remove the signs with profanity within a week or face a $250-a-day fine. Patricia Dilascio is the property owner but her daughter, Andrea Dick, had the signs, three of which include the F-word, on display.
“This is not a case about politics. It is a case, pure and simple, about language,” Bundy said. “This ordinance does not restrict political speech. Neither this town or its laws may abridge or eliminate Ms. Dilascio’s freedom of speech.
“However, freedom of speech is not simply an absolute right. It is clear from state law and statutes that we cannot simply put up the umbrella of the First Amendment and say everything and anything is protected speech.” anti-Biden signs
A display of anti-Joe Biden flags in Roselle Park has drawn concern from parents. The display features curse words and a picture of Donald Trump raising a middle finger.Andrea Dick
Roselle Park Mayor Joseph Signorello III, a Democrat who is running for state Senate in Union County, previously said the home is close to a school and angered some residents. But Dick repeatedly said she would not remove the signs because they are political speech protected by the First Amendment.
The elementary school is up the block and around a corner from the home. Dick and her mom attended the virtual hearing on Thursday but did not say anything beyond thank you to the judge after he explained how to appeal.
A borough code enforcement officer issued a notice of violation last month to the property owner and then a court summons a few days after the signs were not removed. The code enforcement officer testified in court that she received a call from the mayor about the signs and then issued a violation. She said Signorello never asked her to issue a summons.
The ordinance prohibits displaying “any obscene material, communication or performance or other article or item which is obscene within the Borough.” It defines obscenity as material that depicts or describes sexual conduct or lacks any serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
Michael Campagna, an attorney representing the homeowner, argued that standards for obscenity have changed over the years, stating that it was obscene for women to show their knees in the 1920s. He said using the f-word toward someone no longer has a sexual connotation in society and is simply a colloquialism.
“I am a firm believer in the First Amendment,” Campagna said. “I may not believe in what you’re saying, but I absolutely believe that you have the right to say it. That’s what our democracy is about. If you tell people that they cannot say something, that they cannot print something, that they cannot put a sign up, we’re going into censorship.”
He drew comparisons to the suppression of dissent in Nazi Germany.
“In Nazi Germany, when Hitler didn’t like something, they burned the books and then they burned the people,” Campagna said. “I don’t think we want that to happen in Roselle Park.”
Jarrid Kantor, the borough attorney, argued in filings read aloud in court that freedom of speech is not an absolute right since some forms of unprotected speech may be subject to “reasonable limitations.” Kantor implored the judge to consider whether the average person applying “contemporary community standards” would find the signs obscene, which is what the ordinance also states.
“Mr. Campagna gets to the heart of the issue,” Kantor said. “He says, what’s obscene in the 1800s? What’s obscene in the 1850s? What’s obscene now? What’s obscene then? That’s why there is no defined term.”
Not all the signs on the fence used profanity. The judge only ordered the homeowner to remove three signs with the f-word, and others, like the one that said “Socialism sucks. Biden blows” could remain.
“Today was a win for the borough and decency,” Signorello, the mayor, said in a statement to NJ Advance Media. “While we respect the views of our residents, there’s no place for profanity by a school and school children.”
The judge, while handing down his ruling and sentencing, rhetorically asked if a balance could be found between the homeowner’s freedom of speech and a mother having to explain what the f-word means to their child. His ruling, he said, only meant that different words should be used to describe disappointment over the presidential election.
“We just had the National Spelling Bee,” Bundy said. “That word was not one of the words that the kids spell out.”
The homeowner has 20 days to appeal the decision to Superior Court. Campagna did not respond to a request for comment and a man who answered the door at the property Friday morning said “she’s not home.”
All the signs remained up Friday morning.
I take it she hates Biden.
Good girl!
There is a school near her.
Which means her signs were countering the “f trump” curriculum.
That said, I did convince my neighbor to take down his trump “f your feelings” flag. I gave him a regular 2020 flag though.
Sorry but I see no need to use profanities or obscenities whatever the situation is. Especially in public where children are present. And I don’t care if the government also comes down on it.
She could add: “And the same goes for the city of Roselle Park!”. Saw t-shirts and flags for sale in Virginia City, NV over the 4th of July with similar sentiments. Weird huh?
The vulgarity is part of the political message and therefore protected speech. The ruling is simply wrong.
There is no reason for profanities. It shows she has a limited vocabulary. There are many more descriptive and colorful words in the English language.
New world the kiddies hear stuff in grade school I didnt hear untilll boot camp and after.
That dog dont hunt no mo
Agreed. A more exploratory use of communication skills will benefit not only in terms of delivering a cogent point, but in not offending just about everyone.
I have to agree with you. But in general, while the right to protest is important (vital, even), doing so in a manner that annoys everyone around you is not going to help your cause.
If you want your protest to be effective in any way, you’ve got to clean up the message... otherwise you’ll drive away the very people you aim to influence.
That’s way too much for being inside a neighborhood.
All those insults in one pot seems meant to provoke people.
She is lucky no one has tried to knock that entire fence down, or set it on fire.
The funny thing is, I completely agree with her sentiment, but come on! You don’t want that profane negativity on permanent display across the street from your house.
Jesus said we should read the signs of the times, but he didn’t say we should necessarily follow them.
We're at war; church ladies need not apply.
I might consider ordering a coffee cup with Trump giving the double bird + F**k Biden caption.
My coffee. My privacy!
dick move...
Let us grant that you are correct that she has a limited vocabulary preventing her from expressing the message in a better way.
There is no reason for profanities.
This is not compatible with granting your other assertion. Unless you think a limited vocabulary disqualifies one from having the freedom of speech.
Good one.
How about, Buck Fiden?
Or, Fu@k Biden?
Or, Pedo Joe must go?
5.56mm
There are exceptions to free speech.
The f word is likely one of them.
But that’s why we have asterisks. :-)
NJ ping!
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