Threatened With Fines for "God Bless America" Lawn Sign

Semi, you need to get your news form somewhere else besides Fox anything,

The city has had an ordinance against all signs in yards for any and every kind of sign (not a bad policy if you ask me)

They are not targeting the message, only that the signs have passed their acceptable staying time

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The City of Bartow Code Enforcement asked residents to remove the messages within the next three days, as July 4th celebrations are long past.

While WTVT-TV reports that residents will be hit with a $25 per day fine if they fail to remove the sign, Bartow Code Enforcement Director Gregg Lamb told TheBlaze that financial penalties were never threatened and that his office does not have the right to enforce them.

“We were just hoping for some cooperation and understanding about the ordinance,” he said of requests made to the 20 to 25 families that still have the sign on their lawns.

Lamb also made an important point that he says was lost in local media reports: The “God bless America” message had absolutely nothing to do with the crack-down. Even if it was a for sale sign for a vehicle, the same rules would apply, he told TheBlaze.

Regardless of the motivation, the regulation has some locals so outraged that they plan to attend the Bartow City Commission meeting on Monday to request an exemption that would allow them to continue displaying the signs.

Lamb said that if residents want to change the rules governing messaging on private property, then they can do so through the ordinance process. The current regulation, he said, was created to “keep communities and neighborhoods from being cluttered from all sorts of messages.”

“If they want to make an ordinance to allow a particular type of sign, then they need to change that by ordinance,” said Lamb."

Seeweed, you really should get over your irrational reactions to anything Fox reports. From the link:

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According to Fox affiliate WTVT-TV and reported on Fox & Friends this morning, the signs were handed out by a local church after a Fourth of July sermon. Now, the town says it's time for residents to take the signs down.

The city ordinance allows temporary signs around relevant holidays, but the locals argue that being patriotic shouldn't just be limited to July 4th. Furthermore, the signs are on private property.

"Being a veteran, I felt like I was just kicked in the gut. I couldn't believe it, that I couldn't display my love for my nation by putting a sign up that says "God Bless America," said resident, Marcus Seger.

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What is wrong with the report? What did Fox report that you don't agree with?

More enlightenment on this situation--emphases mine:

"While some residents are crying assault on religion, the city has banned posting any signs on private property for the past 13 years, religious or not.

The First Church of Bartow distributed the offending signs to parishioners over the summer in celebration of the 4th of July. And although the decorations were tolerated for a while — signs are permitted for temporary usage during major holidays — some residents have kept them up for more than three months.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i...bless-america-signs#

The city does not want to appear cluttered with all kinds of signage all over the place, so they have enacted reasonable laws to achieve that.  The exception for holidays should satisfy veterans and others who wish to proclaim their loyalty to God and Country.  The ultra-rightists have predictably gotten their panties in a wad over this. Too bad.  If they want the law changed, then they can try.  But the prevailing constitutional law on signage is that laws governing posting of signs must be "content neutral," such that  government may not legally favor one kind of message over another when devising a sign ordinance: 

http://students.law.umich.edu/...2MJEAL1.185_2012.pdf

<<< "The content neutrality principle grew out of a concern that
government action regulating speech based on its subject overcomes an
individual’s right to decide the ideas and beliefs deserving of expression or
consideration, and that government selection of subject matter offers the
significant potential for untrammeled discretion by government officials,
leading to the suppression of certain ideas.  A content-neutral regulation is
deemed to be a “time, place, and manner” regulation, which regulates to
some extent the temporal, locational, and other non-speech aspects of protected speech. In the context of a sign, a time, place, and manner regulation would focus on the sign’s placement, size, height, area, and brightness, for example, instead of regulating the types of words or images
on the sign.">>>

Simply put, it would be constitutionally impermissible for the city of Bartow to amend revise its sign ordinance to purposely create a specific exemption for certain kinds of signs on the basis of their content, including such messages as "God bless America."

It could conceivably be argued that the city's current practice of even temporarily permitting only one kind of sign, presumably on the basis of its content, is not "content-neutral" and is thus unconstitutional. However, I would have to see the actual statutory language used for that purpose before being able to give all you clients my free legal interpretation on the issue. 

For a scholarly and near-exhaustive (and exhausting!) analysis of content neutrality, go here: http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2192&context=wmlr

.  

Having located the sign ordinance of the city of Bartow, Florida, I can find nothing in it that provides even the exemption  for signs commemorating holidays.  Here's the thing:

http://www.cityofbartow.net/Mo....aspx?documentid=334

American, State, and City flags get an exemption as do "Holiday lights and decorations," but that does not seem to fit the "exemption" the city's spokesman was describing and none of the listed exemptions provide any time limit on signage. What gives here?

There also is an exemption for "water towers."  Does that mean that the emboldened juvenile delinquents who scale the water tower in the dead of night to paint upon it "Go  Panthers" or the like are getting a pass from the city?

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I enjoy Fox news & will continue watching/reading it & would never tell you that you need to get your news elsewhere. You would have every right to tell me to mind my own business if I did.

Where, exactly, in this report did Fox lie & how do you know it to be a lie?

While you may not have a problem with anyone telling you what you can/can't put in your own yard, I would have a problem with it. If a town wants to pay my property taxes, they can then tell me what I can/can't put in my yard.

Great comeback Semi. I agree. For all the anti American and God haters out there, if you don't like the good ole U.S.A. the border is open to all departures. Take a hike. Oh yea!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA and all it stands for. Good Day

   Airmobile

I seem to remember that all our veterans, both deceased & living, & our boys that are on the battlefield today, have & is fighting for our freedom of speech.

Looks like that should cover my being able to put a sign in my yard for ever how long I wanted said sign in my yard.

Once again we see the idiocy of the left, via THEIR interpretation of the First Amendment.....

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As with other constitutionally-recognized rights, freedom of speech is not an unlimited right that would permit anyone to say anything in any circumstance or that would permit anyone to post any message on any sign of any size on or off his/her private property.  No special privileges or exceptions to this principle inure to the benefit of persons who happen to have served, or who happen to be serving in the armed forces. 

Are you ****ed @ me? I am a Vet, Son of a Vet, & lost a Son to Iraqi Freedom. I also fly the American flag daily, have signs on my property and did not say anything negative about the post. Just that Semi made a good comment. If you feel offended, then you are mistaken by my reply. For as i'm concerned, he can have the sign in his yard til judgement day.  

Airmobile,

Thank you for your service.  Words cannot express my profound sorrow over your loss.  Our loss.

GBA

Bud

His property. How long do they "allow" for sale signs? 

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I have nothing against you or any other veteran.  I simply explained the situation as it is.  I referred to veterans because several prior posts were advancing the interests of veterans as a basis for allowing the controversial signage at Bartow.  My point still stands--there is nothing in law or the constitution that creates special considerations for veterans or any other group as regards the regulation of signage.

He could hang curtains that had it printed on them on the side facing out.

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I am so sorry for the loss of your son. But I also want to say Thank you to you, your Dad, & your son for your service to this country.

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Excuse me? I mentioned veteran because one of the people in the article was a vet & he couldn't believe that he couldn't display love for his country by putting up a sign up that said "God Bless America".

I'm sure a veteran would be much more offended by it than someone that had never fought for their country. And I wouldn't blame them for being so rightly offended.

He could always paint the words 'SCREW THE CITY COUNCIL' on the front of his house.  I wonder if there is an ordinance against that.  Asinine ordinances enacted to appease the worries of the few.  We would never do that around here, would we? 

There are indeed sign laws in Florence.

If it were I'd post a blank sign.

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There is no law against being offended, but there are laws governing signage, and without them the Philistines would be upon us with all kinds of tacky, intrusive  signage cluttering up the highways and byways.  If the veterans of Bartow or their allies want to take on the city about the sign ordinance, then they have a right to do so, but I suspect that any money and time spent attempting to obtain a special exemption for the kind of signs involved here would be spent in vain.