Posted on 09/21/2017 5:39:27 AM PDT by Puppage
A Rockland, Maine, woman says she would rather go to jail than take down her pro-Donald Trump signs.
Susan Reitman has hung two banners on her front gate: One that says "I love Trump" and another that says "He Won, Get over it."
She received a notice from the city’s code enforcement office a few days ago, asking her to take them down.
"I was shocked," she said. "This is my freedom of speech. People have a right to voice their opinion."
Assistant Code Officer Bill Butler said another Rockland resident complained about the signs' size. The city ordinance states residential signs can be no larger than 2 square feet.
Reitman’s signs are a little larger than 3 feet by 2 feet.
"They’re well over the limit," Butler said.
He said residents need to apply for permits to display signs like that. They are able to follow an appeals process if their permits are denied.
Reitman said she wasn’t aware of the ordinance and feels it should be changed to allow for this kind of political speech.
She has until Friday to remove the banners, or else face a fine between $100-$1,000 a day.
Reitman has no plans to pay fines or remove signs.
"If I have to sit in jail for the rest of eternity, that’s my choice," she said. "I guess I’m being stubborn ... but I’m not going to back down from what I believe."
How about 50 such signs with dimensions of 2 feet by 1 foot..?
technically she would be in compliance and making them extremely mad.
“How about 50 such signs with dimensions of 2 feet by 1 foot..?”
Great idea! She could even make each sign just a small part of a larger image. Effectively making “one” sign any size she likes.
I once had a run-in with the EPA and didn’t comply. They simply slapped a $10,000 a day fine on me. I complied that day. As my ol’ dad would say, ‘Ya can’t fight City Hall. ‘
easy solution...
just make a LARGER sign and divide it into quarters, so each sign is just under the size limit :P
...or muslim signs?
Why doesn’t she use her head and just trim the sign down by an inch on each side?then it will be below the mandated maximum size.
A guy in Austin painted his garage door to look like an open garage door because the HOA rules stated garage doors should be kept closed at all times.
This woman should paint the signs onto a solid fence.
You only think you have private property. You don’t. You get to pay the taxes, which amounts to confiscation over 30 years; you get to pay insurance and you keep the liability, but you don’t get to do what you want on “your” property.
My brother had a neighbor who sent a letter to the neighborhood giving everyone "suggestions" on how they should maintain their property. He ignored the specific suggestions he was given and put up a bunch of pink flamingos instead.
If the judiciary wasn't the most corrupt of the three branches, it would be a clearcut open and shut case of FREEDOM OF SPEECH, but now that only applies if it's leftist leaning speech.
UMMM Maybe my math is weak, but if her signs are 2 feet X 3 feet = 6 square feet.
The article says the rule is 2 square feet.
Taking an inch off each side would not seem to reduce them to 1/3 of original size.
JMHO
Political speech is the exact speech the First Amendment was created to protect.
They look fine to me.
I was in Wisconsin before the election and there were Bernie Sanders signs, perhaps a bit smaller, but not always, all over the place.
The problem is just because they are pro-Trump, IMO.
Now I see she lives in Maine, so probably not...
Reitman has two signs that exceed the size limits on the gate to her driveway, as well as one on her ranch-style house on Seavey Lane, which is a dead-end road off South Main Street that has 10 homes.
She pointed out that the assistant code officer had been on her property earlier this month about a request she had to add a fence and she was not told the signs were in violation at that time.
The code officer said a woman came in to the office on Aug. 15 to complain about the signs. He said no notes were taken on her complaint. The woman sent an email the following day with a picture of the signs. The email did not include her name. Butler said the woman voiced concern about her safety if her name became public.
Woman says she will go to jail rather than remove Trump signs
This summer I saw huge Trump signs on farms around Rockland - Owls Head, for instance.
That woman lives in the 2nd Congressional District.
Trump carried that district, which covers 80% of Maine, by 10 points.
Maine splits its electoral votes, just like Nebraska (the only two states that do so).
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