WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s American Civil Liberties Union is defending a man who is facing a fine for flying flags supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Joseph Hornick was ticketed for violating a West Long Branch ordinance that restricts the display of political signs until 30 days before an election. The town considers the flags that proclaim “Trump-Make America Great Again” equivalent to a political sign.
Chapter deputy legal director Jeanne LoCicero says it doesn’t matter whether it’s a lawn sign or a flag. She says people have the right to express their political beliefs every day. The chapter plans to defend Hornick in court.
New Jersey’s primary is June 7.
Violators of the ordinance face a minimum fine of $100.
Hornick is scheduled to appear in municipal court May 18.
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Going with the ACLU on this one. It’s a stupid ordinance.
SCOUTS’s decision in “Town of Gilbert” should make this a slam dunk for the ACLU, no?
Disagree, it’s still an ordinance. There might be tolerance for selective enforcement, but once an enforcement is made, it’s a legit fine. Also, the headline makes it sound like he got the ticket because it was a Trump flag. No he, got it because it was a political flag.
The ACLU can try to get the ordinance repealed, but it would not be retroactive, the fine would still be legit.
Not so sure. That case was about only allowing certain content. In this case, I don’t think flags are allowed in general, they just allow political flags the month before an election. They could just ban political flags outright. Seems different to me, but we’ll see the legal arguments from both sides.
It would be different if they were not allowing Bernie or Hillary signs, only Trump signs. That would be a content issue. Does not seem to be the case here.
While I think Trump is an odious proto-facist and anyone who would support his candidacy is a flaming idiot, I am glad to see the ACLU take up this case and defend this idiot.