(IntegrityTimes.com) – A federal judge has ruled that Tennessee woman was incorrectly fined for placing a sign in her front yard displaying the words “F**k Em’ Both 2024”. The Western District of Tennessee’s US District Court concluded that local resident Julie Pereira’s First Amendment rights were violated when she received the $50 fine for the “obscene” sign.
Pereira refused to pay the fines or obscure her message’s “potency”, and accumulated $688 in fines. The city finally stopped fining her after she used tape to censor the “u” on the sign. The woman then opted to sue the City of Lakeland for violating her rights to freedom of expression.
A survey in April found that 55% of those polled were unlikely to vote for either President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump in November. Though Independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr presents a third option for disillusioned voters, the survey also found that 35% of those polled had a favorable opinion of him. Kennedy’s supporters have argued that he is less crooked than either leading party candidate. The independent candidate has called for a more moderate and healing position away from divisive partisan politics.
According to a poll published in January 2024, 67% of those surveyed were exhausted by the same candidates dominating each election. Kimberly Sofge, a project manager based in Washington DC, commented that the country can “do better” and that she did not like having to constantly choose between the “lesser of two evils”.
According to Pereira’s lawsuit, the sign was intended to “simply and cogently” express her views that neither leading party candidate was fit for another term in the White House. The federal court’s verdict agreed with Pereira, and prohibited the city from pursuing further action in response to the sign.
The court ordered the city to compensate Pereira for both the fines she had paid and the $31,000 she spent on legal expenses. She will also be paid nominal damages of $1 for the violation of her constitutional rights.
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