A Louisiana man has filed suit against the town where he lives, claiming he was repeatedly ticketed, detained, and even criminally charged for flying two flags reading “FUCK JOE BIDEN” on his pickup truck.
According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Ross Brunet, his flags were protected by the First Amendment. “In violation of long-established law, the Town has routinely detained, cited, and forced Mr. Brunet to go to trial to vindicate his constitutional rights, taking the extraordinary step of adopting a boldly unconstitutional local Ordinance to silence him,” the 18-page complaint reads.
Brunet, a contractor working throughout southern Louisiana, says in the filing that he was repeatedly targeted by the town of Grand Isle, Louisiana, for the content of several signs Brunet kept displayed on his pickup truck. The flags read “FUCK JOE BIDEN” and, in a smaller font, “AND FUCK YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM.” The suit alleges that Brunet was arrested four times throughout 2021 by a local police officer for “display of patently obscene words/photos/depiction” under a Louisiana anti-obscenity law.
[This should be a very interesting First Amendment case. I’m not certain that courts will rule that cities and towns have no compelling interest regarding profanity in the public square, but I’m equally uncertain how that interest would override what is clearly political speech either. — Ed]
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