Legal team fights police order for family to take down Trump sign, wins!
The U.S. Supreme Court has determined, in previous cases, that arbitrary bans on political signs are not constitutional.
So has the Ohio Supreme Court. And the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Nevertheless, a town in Ohio adopted an ordinance that imposes severe restrictions on when such a political statement can appear, and now quickly is trying to reverse itself.
It’s because of the attention it got from the American Center for Law and Justice, which was contacted by a resident of Carrollton, Ohio, and wrote to town officials.
They now have “agreed to stop enforcing this unconstitutional ordinance and to stop preventing our clients from placing political signs in their yard. This represents a triumph for this family and others affected by this unconstitutional ordinance. The town also agreed to take the ordinance to the Village Council for discussion and direction to take action, which should lead to the ordinance being removed from the books entirely,” the ACLJ reported.
The legal team explained the case arose because of a “local ordinance that prohibits citizens from displaying political signs until mere weeks before an election – an egregious violation of their right to free speech.”
In fact, Carrollton’s rule states: “Political signs may be exhibited not more than thirty days before nor more than seven days after the date of any election.”
Many problems are linked, the legal team’s report said.
“One of them is that in Ohio, early voting commences on October 8, 2024, and many people plan to vote on days other than Election Day itself. This ordinance will, therefore, ban political signs until almost immediately before the election actually starts.”
The clients for the ACLJ are homeowners in Carrollton and “wish to show their support for their preferred candidate for president by placing political signs in their yard. This support is not limited to simply 30 days before an election; they have a fundamental desire to express their political support throughout the year.”
Their sign, supporting President Trump, went up. And a policeman knocked on their door.
“He told them that he had been directed to go door to door to families that had political signs in their yards and order them to remove the signs. This order was so egregious that our clients thought it was a joke, but the officer confirmed the order; they had to take down their sign,” the report said.
But the Supreme Court has, in fact, determined that basing sign permissions on content is “presumptively unconstitutional.”
“We sent a letter on Tuesday to Carrollton, demanding that it immediately cease from applying this unconstitutional ordinance. … A day after receiving our demand letter, the town of Carrollton responded and agreed to stop enforcing this unconstitutional ordinance and to stop preventing our clients from placing political signs in their yard,” the ACLJ said.