![]() 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. The signs, which can be seen in this photo, are certainly colorful in terms of language, and very definitely convey their owner’s displeasure with the current regime. However, it would appear they do not violate the ordinance cited by the judge, who also claimed to be all for protecting free speech rights while issuing an order that violates those rights. Black ops in game namechanger king orgy free#Īccording to Judge Gary Bundy, free speech is not “absolute” and the town’s law does not “abridge or violate” the First Amendment rights of the signs’ owner. 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. Well, that’s true, but only if you insist on limiting your analysis to superlatives, as this judge did. The town’s law does not abridge the property owner’s First Amendment rights. But this application of the law certainly seems to. The law forbids the public display of “obscene material.” Here’s the law’s definition of that term: The phrase “Fuck Biden” - which appears on three different signs - doesn’t actually violate the ordinance the town of Roselle Park claims was violated. The word “obscene” shall mean any material, communication or performance which the average person applying contemporary community standards existing within the municipality, would find, when considered as a whole:ī. Depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct as hereinafter specifically defined, or depicts or exhibits offensive nakedness as hereinafter specifically defined andĬ. Lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. ![]() and the phrase “when considered as a whole,” these signs would need to violate all three clauses to be considered obscene. “Fuck Biden” seems pretty clearly “political,” even if the value of the sentiment is somewhat debatable. But there’s nothing sexual or prurient about this use of the word “fuck,” which would be taken by literally nobody to mean the property owner is suggesting someone should engage in a sexual act with the current President. We certainly don’t expect municipal courts to be run by Constitutional scholars or attorneys with years of experience defending civil rights, but we should expect appointed judges to at least keep up with the last 50 years of Supreme Court precedent (including some recent decisions) determining that the word “fuck” - especially when used in conjunction with political issues - is definitely protected speech.īut even the town’s mayor seems to believe residents’ rights end when public officials begin to get offended on behalf of rhetorical minors. “Today was a win for the borough and decency,” Signorello, the mayor, said in a statement to NJ Advance Media.
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