Woman ordered to remove anti-Biden F-bomb signs from N.J. home or face fines

Pennlive ^ | 17 July A.D. 2021 | Rebecca Panico

[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.

[VanShuyten]

“ It defines obscenity as material that depicts or describes sexual conduct …”

“… the one that said “Socialism sucks. Biden blows” could remain.”

Ummmmmm…………

[Col Frank Slade]

If she was my neighbor I’d send her a bottle of wine.

[Kozy]

You may not like the “F” word however it is protected speech under the First Amendment.

[misanthrope]

” 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.

COITUS BIDEN!!

[EnglishOnly]

... Court Judge Gary Bundy , - must be kin to Al Bundy.

[circlecity]

I thought the USSC resolved this issue when it ruled that a man could not be charged with violating a obscenity ordinance for wearing a jacket that said F- the Draft. It was protected speech. This ruling would not survive a court challenge.

[Bellagio]

Though I absolutely agree with the displays message... I see no problem with the ruling as long as it is applied evenly.

It’s a borough, and the local government can impose decency laws against any signage, public or private yard display, deemed too obscene and indecent in visual content that would be contrary to the well-being and overall respectability when viewed by anyone within or outside the borough.

No different then the laws banning you from exhibition from your yard or window, or walking down the street naked.

It’s an aesthetic as well as conduct/ethical issue, not free speech political issue.

[circlecity]

Cohen v. California

[Kevmo]

Everyone knows the real reason behind this legal action. Libs are simply trying to crush dissent.

[DoodleDawg]

Profanity is the crutch of the conversational cripple. You can express disapproval of Biden without the f-bombs and middle fingers.

[digger48]

“This is a big f***ing deal”

-Biden on live TV in March 2010

[C210N]

-Biden the other day, channeling, nay Plagiarizing, Joseph Stalin

[DOC44]

and the judge’s name is GARY.... nuff said

[Safetgiver]

to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt : desecrate......When did Joe Bite become “sacred’?

[jmacusa]

I should think “Biden Supporter’’ would be profane enough.

[OrangeHoof]

The Supreme Court decided years ago that when a person wore a “F-— the Draft” t-shirt to a draft board induction, he was exercising his first amendment right to free speech.

She could be well within her rights to do as she did. However, the Left is well-known for double standards. You just have to see how the Left defended burning and looting during protests last summer but have acted like protesting at the Capital Building was tantamount to insurrection.

Using vulgarity to make a point is a staple of the Left. This woman should have known it wouldn’t be an accepted tactic on the right.

But then, with a surname like ‘Dick’, I would guess her sense of propriety would be a bit askew.

[Beagle8U]

This has already been to court and ruled legal protected speech.

[FormerFRLurker]

The real question is whether she would have been asked to take down signs that say “F-— Trump!”. I doubt it.

[Beagle8U]

“Cole said city attorneys looked into the legality of flying flags with profanity on them. While laws regulate the display of campaign signs in people’s yards, the Constitutional right to free speech allows people to display whatever flags they like in front of their own homes, he said.”

“Tennessee is just one of at least five different states that have had recent disputes involving anti-Biden flags bearing profanity.”

https://www.newsweek.com/profanity-laced-anti-biden-flag-can-remain-place-tennessee-mayor-says-1606976

[yoe]

After almost one year of burning cities and taking down statues of patriots and Columbus, someone in their infinite wisdom erected a statue of Floyd. No, not the barber of the Andy Griffin Show, although he probably deserves it a lot more than this one.

NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) — New Jersey’s most populous city paid tribute to George Floyd, unveiling a 700-pound bronze statue in his honor outside Newark’s City Hall. Not sure if this is to honor his drug dealing, who made his family millions.

After 6 burglaries, 3 car thefts, committing 2 violent home invasions, 3 armed robberies, beating 4 victims senseless, passing counterfeit money, and being arrested 23 times since 1998, George Floyd hasn't committed a crime in over one year BUT HIS FAMILY HAS RECEIVED $27 MILLION FROM THE STATE AND $20 MILLION FROM “GO FUND ME”.

Also, President Biden and his VP met with the Floyd family on May 25th, the one year anniversary of his death. Nancy Pelosi in June of 2020, gave the Floyd family a folded American Flag that had flown over the Capitol on the day he died - as a fallen hero. Think about that one.

Justice Clarence Thomas, Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Shelby Steel and other honorable American Negros and the American Negro tries to make a saint out of a failed American Negro.