OK, so here we go; another reason Ron Paul must become president...
Seems a young man in Orlando, Florida (Clermont, actually) put a Ron Paul sign is his yard.
He was not asked to do so by the campaign; he did it of his own volition on his private property.
The city code enforcement officer seems to think he must either take it down or pay a $50 dollar fee.
TO POST THE SIGN IN HIS OWN YARD!!!!!!
City ordinance 102-18, section 3 says:
"The candidate or someone designated by the candidate, whose sign is erected or placed on any
premises, shall make that deposit..." Assuming the $50 deposit/fee.
Clearly, this man is neither the candidate nor someone designated by the candidate so this ordinance does
not apply to him.
This is obviously a misapplied ordinance in this case and section 4 of the Florida constitution does protect
free speech specifically! As does the Constitution of the United States.
So, what should he do:
(Disclaimer here; I am not a lawyer; do not have a law degree and have never attended law
school, BUT I do know what our Constitution says about free speech. This is merely my view.)
1. Put the sign back up! (what is the worst they can do? $50 dollar fine? Gotta pay it any way)
2. Search out legal help on the web. There are surely places (ACLU comes to mind) who would
LOVE to get some teeth in this one!!
3. Gather as much information as possible about this exact issue; see below:
http://www.signlaw.com/US
http://www.firstamendmentcenter
5. Be sure to let everyone in town know (by adding another sign, maybe) that your First Amendment
rights as well as your Florida Constitutional rights are being violated. DEMAND clarification of the
ordinance by the city council!!!
This is a total outrage and I actually expect something like this in my town soon. My signs will bother
someone but we have no such ordinance. I served on council and have a copy of the ordinance book to
reference.
1 comment:
wow, nobody likes this one
-not jake...again
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