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.
Yes, there are creative ways to imply certain metaphors without actually using them. The interpretation is in the mind of the beholder...
I believe she’s in an HOA which trumps everything. She needs to remove the three and put “buck fiden” or something. People will understand.
The messaging is clear and straight to the point. Few other signs could carry as much meaning.
“This is not a case about politics. It is a case, pure and simple, about language,”
Combines clever with funny.
Much more persuasive than crude, at least to my mind. :-)
I would prefer a different set of signs.
Something more in line with “Biden coup plotters should be executed by military firing squad”.
Maybe it’s a bit too long. Perhaps show a picture of the Puppet head on the bottom of a guillotine.
“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.”
The government is a little inconsistent of course, especially when it involves a tranny going into a girls locker room, or teaching the gay agenda in schools. Certain obscenities are more equal than others.
What an effin idiot.
Profanity is the tool of the inarticulate mother*****r. Seriously, though, I agree with both of you. Our society has become so crude. I’m not one of those people who believes that countering our vicious enemies by playing patty cake because we’re “above” it is a productive strategy. That said, one thing that should be beneath us is expressing ourselves in the gutter language used by the other side. Nothing is gained by it and it just contributes to the accelerating coarsening of our country.
I live in New York and two people right near me had “F Trump” signs on their law all last year and I didn’t read about them being fined. I guess it’s a different story Democrats Messiah is elected. Insulting B. Hussein was also off limits if anyone remembers that.
I’m curious about how she really feels about Biden.
Better signs to put up would be “Joe Biden is a protected pedophile”
Thank Hollyweird too.
You can’t find a movie that isn’t full of filth and obscenities today.
I saw some blockbuster names on the movie ...
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
Like 5 known names.
ABSOLUTE TRASH. Don’t take anyone with you to this garbage.
You're right. What she should do is swap the f signs out wit images of biden with his hand on a prepubescent little girl's breast. It's not profanity.
Are citizens fined for ever using the f-bomb?
I don't like the word myself as it shows a limited mind trying to express itself.
you guys are right there is no need for profanity like this but the Don’t Blame Me sign should be left up and that says plenty. One other thing this is not far from where I live. I think that I am going to take a spin past the house.
No. That order is invalid and the judge deserves to be removed from office.
As long as leftists are allowed to do the same to Trump and Whitey, there is no justice in the USA.
I should just being a Biden supporter insult enough.
I would go with the F’ Biden signs. If the left does it, why not tit-for-tat, because it’s not really about the content but the ability to show the content. The left get’s away with the obscenities, that is like saying F’ you to you too because you can’t do anything about it. It’s a declaration that they won.
Fornicate Biden
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