Words actually fail me on this one... so it'll speak for itself.
FIRST AMENDMENT UNDER FIRE
City: American flag OK, but Constitution illegal
Businessman fined $500 a day for displaying Bill of Rights, artwork
Posted: March 04, 2009
8:59 pm Eastern
By Joe Kovacs
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
 Herb Quintero says a mural of marine life on his store is artwork, not a sign, and he's now suing Clearwater, Fla. He has since posted a banner of the First Amendment over the game fish. (courtesy Tampa Tribune) |
CLEARWATER, Fla. – City officials here apparently don't have a problem with flying the American flag, but posting the text of the U.S. Constitution is a very different story.
A federal judge is now deciding if government officials are going overboard in fining a Florida bait and tackle shop owner $500 a day for displaying the First Amendment atop a mural of marine life on his building.
U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Jenkins today heard initial arguments in a federal lawsuit as the American Civil Liberties Union is seeking an injunction to stop the city of Clearwater from fining businessman Herb Quintero.
Under questioning by Quintero's team, the city's lone witness, Planning Director Michael Delk, was forced to admit that if the business had posted a U.S. flag instead of a First Amendment banner, it's likely the Quintero family would not have been cited for violating the sign code.
Ironically, in 1993, Clearwater lost a case that began when it fined a car dealership for flying too many American flags. A federal appeals court ruled against the city, invalidating the city's sign ordinance as "facially unconstitutional."
WND first brought the plight of Herb Quintero to national attention last week, and the story struck an immediate chord with Americans fed up with what they perceive to be government overstepping its authority. Comments of outrage from across the nation and world have since been flooding in.
"They're very abusive, profane, insulting e-mails," City Manager Bill Horne told the St. Petersburg Times. "People are passionate about the First Amendment, and rightfully so. I happen to believe we did the right thing."
A giant banner promoting free speech right is posted in protest on top of Herb Quintero's marine life mural in Clearwater, Fla.
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