A city in Tennessee has been ordered to pay a resident $31,000 over a dispute over a lawn sign.
The dispute began when the city of Lakeland in Tennessee levied a fine to a woman who placed a political sign on her lawn in mid-January.
According to local media outlet WMC-TV, Julie Pereira placed the political sign on her lawn in front of her house in January. She said that when she did so, she was attempting to send a message that was non-partisan to the candidates of both major political parties in the U.S., since she didn’t like either one of them.
The sign, though, was explicit. It read: “F*** Em’ Both 2024.”
Officials in Lakeland said that Pereira had violated local laws because the sign was obscene.
The New York Post reported that the city argued that the sign was in violation of regulations that are on the books that prohibit any display of “statements of an obscene, indecent, or immoral character, which would offend public morals or decency,” as well as “statements, words or pictures of an obscene nature.”
Every day that Pereira left the sign up on her lawn, she was charged $50 by the city. She wasn’t fazed by those fines, though, and decided that she wanted to keep the sign up on her lawn.
As she told the local media outlet:
“I am well aware of my constitutional and protected rights and that the City of Lakeland’s sign ordinance contains several unconstitutional requirements and regulations.”
Instead of take the sign down, Pereira decided that she wanted to sue the city. In response, the city filed its own claims against the resident, though they ended up dropping that suit in June.
This month, a federal court decided in Pereira’s favor. The ruling said that the city didn’t have a right to impose on the rights that Pereira has as a resident of the city. The ruling was based on the findings that the sign wasn’t “obscene,” as defined by standing legal precedent.
As the ruling states:
“For these reasons, the Court declares unconstitutional the Defendants’ enforcement action against the plaintiff for displaying her unredacted political yard sign. The Defendants are thus permanently enjoined from taking any further enforcement action against the Plaintiff for displaying her unredacted political yard sign.”
The city was ordered to pay Pereira $688.45, which would cover all of the costs and fines that the city imposed on her. In addition, the city was also ordered to pay $31,000 to Pereiri, which covered damages in the case.
The ruling states that the money is to cover “reasonable attorney’s fees” as well as other costs that she may have incurred in the lawsuit fight.
This means that, despite winning the lawsuit, Pereira isn’t going to get a huge cash payday. Instead, she is just being made whole for what she lost as a result of having to pay the fines and fees that the city imposed on her.
