Post by Graveyardbride on Jul 28, 2021 7:31:04 GMT -5
‘Biden Sucks’: It’s OK to Display Anti-Biden Sentiment
Andrea Dick of Roselle Park, New Jersey, and her mother, Patricia Dilascio, decided to display their political views by erecting several signs reading, “Fuck Biden,” “Joe Biden Sucks,” etc., etc. However, the town ordered the pair to remove the signs with Mayor Joseph Signorello, a Democrat, claiming the town’s primary concern was that the banners were visible to young schoolchildren.
Municipal Court Judge Gary A. Bundy subsequently ruled the banners violated the town’s ordinance against obscenity, although it should have been clear, even to the average Joe, that the judge, who is supposed to have a law degree, had misread the ordinance, specifically the definition of “obscene.” According to the law, obscene means “any material, communication or performance which the average person applying contemporary community standards existing within the municipality, would find, when considered as a whole ... appeals to the prurient interest; depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct as hereinafter specifically defined, or depicts or exhibits offensive nakedness as hereinafter specifically defined; and lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” While “Fuck Biden” may be puerile, it is a political statement and in no way suggests anyone engage in a sexual act with the individual now occupying the White House.
Nonetheless, the two women were facing fines of $250 per day when the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) decided to take up the cause of the two Republicans and the city dropped the matter. Amol Sinha, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the ACLU, issued the following statement:
“The First Amendment exists specifically to make sure people can express strong opinions on political issues – or any other matter – without fear of punishment by the government. Today’s decision confirms that our position was correct: Roselle Park had no grounds to issue fines for a political sign and the town’s use of its obscenity ordinance infringed upon fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment. It was an uncomplicated case.”
Andrea Dick was relieved, “My mother, too, we both feel so relieved,” she told a reporter. “I’m just happy this is all over.”
Another New Jerseyean faced a similar problem in Hazlet. Anthony Ragusa, too, displayed anti-Biden signs (above) on his Holmdel Avenue property, including one reading, “Fuck Joe Biden,” and another proclaiming, “Biden Sucks.” Ragusa declared, “I don’t like him. He is not a good president and I don’t really think he is fit.”
Town authorities found the signage objectionable and after a code officer gave Ragusa 10 days to remove the profane signs, the 27-year-old Republican balked. “I was willing to, out of respect for children, to remove the ones that say ‘fuck,’ but I am going to put others in its place,” Ragusa said. “I will refrain from curse words, but as far as I am concerned, none of this is your legal right to take it away. I get to decide what I have.”
Citing the landmark 1971 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Cohen v. California that upheld the First Amendment rights of a man arrested after walking into a court room wearing a jacket emblazoned with “Fuck the Draft,” Professor Thomas Healy, a First Amendment expert at Seton Hall University Law School, agreed with Ragusa.
Also in New Jersey, a Bergan County man and Union County woman were condemned by their communities for displaying such signs. Similar incidents have been reported throughout the United States.
Sources: Dom Calicchio, Fox News, July 28, 2021; Joe Strupp, The People's Ledger, June 22, 2021, and Tim Cushing, TechDirt, July 20, 2021.
