‘F#%* Biden’ — NJ woman wins fight to display profane signs – New Jersey 101.5 FM
ROSELLE PARK — A borough woman has won her fight to display signs that bash President Biden with vulgar language.
Facing daily fines imposed by a Municipal Court after the borough government charged Andrea Dick and her mother with violating a borough ordinance prohibiting profane displays in public, a Superior Court judge on Tuesday threw out the case.
Borough officials have said that they did not intend to appeal.
Dick and her mother, both Trump supporters, were represented by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose attorneys argued that the borough was infringing on Dick’s First Amendment right to express herself politically.
“This type of policing and silencing of speech, which has historically disproportionately impacted New Jerseyans of color, cannot go unchecked,” the ACLU chapter said in a written statement a day before the court hearing. “We will vigorously defend our clients’ rights to criticize politicians — even using coarse language — expression that sits at the core of the First Amendment.”
A Municipal Court judge in Roselle Park had ordered Dick to remove the signs from her fence or face a $250 per day fine. The ACLU’s New Jersey chapter stepped in to represent her in a hearing on Tuesday, during which the judge dismissed the charges.
Dick said the borough was going to drop all charges and the fines, which started accumulating on Thursday.
“I don’t know what I am. I’m numb, I’m happy, I’m beyond,” Dick said Tuesday in an interview. “Oh my God, I’m so happy.”
Mayor Joe Signorello did not respond to New Jersey 101.5’s request for comment on Tuesday.
Signorello told New Jersey 101.5 on Monday, however, that the borough did not want to move forward if the case wound up at the state Supreme Court. The Democrat also did not want to get embroiled in a costly First Amendment battle.
“At the end of the day, if we were to lose I don’t think we would go to the Appellate Division and take it any higher. We would probably change the ordinance. If we were to win and she were to appeal again, we’d have to take a long hard look at what this is costing the borough,” Signorello said.
Dick said she may pursue a lawsuit against the borough for the putting her through an ordeal over the flags.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ
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