The village of Slinger applies, then returns, the rule of signs of the political courtyard

In his front courtyard, Marian Nowak of Slinger has a sign with a simple message: God, Guns & Trump.

“We believe in God, my husband is a hunter, he loves firearms and we support President Trump,” she said.

She has had this in the past nine years without problem.

Then, in February, she was one of the many residents who received a letter from the Slinger building inspector. He said that she violated the prescription on the Village of the County of Washington.

“You get a little,” What is the hell? ” “She describes her reaction. “Because it had been in place for so long.”

After significant attention online and a threat of legal proceedings of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a conservative law firm, the village has since canceled these letters of violation.

The village board of directors has returned its sign order to its plan commission to “review the language and general rules” of the order, according to the village president, Scott Stortz.

Signs order is based on complaints

Like many municipalities, Slinger regulates the panels within the limits of the village.

But Slinger ordinances Let’s say that the electoral panels cannot be up more than four days after an election, and that, generally, temporary signs cannot be in place for more than seven days.

The village only applies these rules in response to complaints, according to Stortz.

Someone had sent a list of several houses to the village with Trump panels, Stortz said. He said that the village had followed his prescription by inspecting the signs, concluding that they were standing for too long and emitting letters of violation.

It was the first complaint in the village since its prescription for a sign written in 2022, he said.

“Our answer is not politically motivated. I don’t care that the panel called “free cupcakes,” he said.

Almost 70% Residents of Slinger voted for President Donald Trump in last year’s elections.

The rules of political signs have been deemed unconstitutional

Similar municipal rules on political signs have been deemed unconstitutional, according to Nathalie Burmeister, a lawyer for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, called Will.

She said that the decisions of the US Supreme Court have long known that signage is a form of protected discourse under the first amendment. “

In its 2015 unanimous Reed c. City of Gilbert Decision, the court judged that the restrictions of the signs – even if they do not target specific political opinions – are unconstitutional when they are based on the content of the signs.

“It regulates it differently according to what the panel says, not only, you know – it is a panel of 6 feet to 4 feet which can be in place for 30 days,” said Burmeister.

His farm pleaded a similar case in Neenah in 2023.

Will represented a resident of Slinger who received a letter of violation from the village. After the company sent a village letter declaring that his order was unconstitutional, the village canceled his opinions of violation.

“Derogatory” rhetoric around the order, says the village chief

Stortz said that the discussion on the sign on the sign of Slinger “exploded” online after sending the letters.

The radio show host of Radio Vicki McKenna described them as “Small piece of the little tyranny of the little wing“Hundreds of actions and comments on Facebook, and then published a” published “Sign singer n @ zis updateOn social networks.

Stortz said he “made sure everyone knew” to come to the village council meeting on March 17 to share his reflections on the order.

“And among the thousands and thousands and thousands of comments, only one person appeared at this meeting,” he said. “So, very interesting.”

He called it “symptomatic of social media in general”.

“It’s a bit (discouraging) when you have so many people who are ready to tear publicly on their own community, but who are not part of the solution,” he said.

“We want them to show up, we want to see their faces, we want them to see our faces, we want to hear their comments, their concerns,” he said.

“If people don’t like the rule, agree,” he said. “Help us create one that everyone likes.”