A woman in Tennessee was fined hundreds of dollars for having a political yard sign that made people look twice. She later sued her city under the First Amendment and won about $32,000.
Julie Pereira put up a sign in her front yard earlier this year that said “Fuck ‘Em Both 2024.” Not long, though, before Pereira was fined for breaking a city rule against obscene signs after neighbors complained. The officer was from Lakeland, a suburb of Memphis.
She took down her sign for a short time, but last month she sued. Lawyers for both sides asked for approval of a settlement on Wednesday. The settlement said that the city’s acts were unconstitutional and set aside $31,000 for Pereira’s legal fees, plus a few hundred dollars for damages and costs.
Daniel A. Horwitz, one of Pereira’s lawyers, told Business Insider in an email, “Telling politicians to fuck themselves is a sacred American right.” “We are proud to have protected Mrs. Pereira’s right to express her political views and to have achieved a successful outcome in this important First Amendment case.”
In the case, Pereira said that she doesn’t like either President Joe Biden or Donald Trump as a candidate for president in November. Aside from her election sign, other things in the city have also caused trouble. According to a story from ABC24 in May, Pereira also won a lawsuit against the city after it gave her a ticket for a Christmas decoration that used bad language to make a joke about the 1989 comedy film “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”
The judge said it wasn’t clear that “both” meant Biden and Trump when she first argued the violation over her “Fuck ‘Em Both” sign, a recording showed. Code enforcement said that at least 10 neighbors had reported. One person said they would not have bought a house in the area if Pereira’s sign had been up.
The judge also brought up Pereira’s past fight with the city and said that jail time was an option.
The judge told them, “I will warn you, I don’t want to see you back in here.”
“Your Honor, I do not want to see the City of Lakeland continue to violate my First Amendment rights,” Pereira said.
An email sent to the city on July 4, a US holiday, didn’t get a response.
