Andrea Dick has started a GoFundMe campaign after Judge Gary Bundy in Union County said she must remove any profane signs on her fence or face fines. The signs include the F-word and more. (Andrea Dick)
Andrea Dick has started a GoFundMe campaign after Judge Gary Bundy in Union County said she must remove any profane signs on her fence or face fines. (Andrea Dick)
ROSELLE PARK, NJ — A Roselle Park homeowner who defended her right to keep profane Donald Trump and Joe Biden signs on her fence has lost in court, but has set up a GoFundMe page for a legal fund to fight to keep the signs up.
On Thursday, Roselle Park Municipal Court Judge Gary Bundy ordered Andrea Dick, a resident of the borough, to remove the signs on her fence containing profanity, saying they violate a local ordinance about "Signs containing Obscene, Pornographic or Lewd Messages."
If she doesn't remove them, she could be fined up to $250 a day. READ MORE: NJ Woman Fights To Keep 'Lewd' Pro-Trump Flags In School Zone
Dick responded in a Facebook post on Friday, "As most of you know I lost in court yesterday I plan on appealing please any donations are appreciated."
Dick had received a letter dated June 2 from the borough threatening to fine her up to $500 a day for posting violating ordinance 40-3002-I.11 "Signs containing Obscene, Pornographic or Lewd Messages."
Roselle Park Mayor Joseph Signorello III told Patch at the time that the issue wasn't about politics but that the signs are a few blocks from a school. He said Dick had had political signs up before without salty language and they did not cause a problem. READ MORE: NJ Woman Fights To Keep 'Lewd' Pro-Trump Flags In School Zone
For her part, Dick told Patch that children don't pass the area with the signs.
One of Dick's signs says, "F-- Biden and F--- you for voting for him." Another says, "Joe Biden s---s." A third shows former President Trump sticking his middle finger up.
The Debate
In municipal court this past Thursday, Dick's attorney, Michael Campagna of Elizabeth, and Borough Attorney Jarrid Kantor debated whether the signs cross the line of what's decent in modern times.
According to NJ.com, Dick's attorney referred to his client's First Amendment right to free speech and said the F-word doesn't have much of a sexual connotation anymore.
He also invoked the Nazis: "In Nazi Germany, when Hitler didn’t like something, they burned the books and then they burned the people. I don’t think we want that to happen in Roselle Park.”
Kantor asked Bundy to consider whether a person applying “contemporary community standards” would find the signs obscene.
Bundy, in ruling that Dick should remove signs with profane language or face fines, said, "This ordinance does not restrict political speech. . However, freedom of speech is not simply an absolute right."
Mayor Responds
Mayor Signorello told Patch Monday that he hopes Dick takes the signs down rather than appealing to Superior Court.
"No one really wants to fine her," he said. "I think the 'ask' to take the signs down is reasonable from the perspective of being a human being. Even if people on [her] political side, not that this is political, understand it's around a school."
He said that even if cursing doesn't have the impact of years ago, the terms used on the signs are "sexual in nature."
"I wouldn't want to explain to my kid what 'Biden Blows' means," he said.
Dick and Campagna did not return messages in time for publication.
By Wednesday, Dick's GoFundMe "legal defense fund" had elicited only $1,245 out of a $10,000 goal.
The organizer, Gail Ciccocelli of Florida, wrote, "Andrea is a good American and a staunch Trump supporter as you can see. Do the signs contain profanity? Hell yes. But if memory serves correctly, there have been countless profane signs against Trump, the police, Trump supporters etc."
She added, "Andrea is fighting a costly battle to preserve her Freedom of Speech rights, as well as yours. It’s nice to see someone stepping up to the plate to show people that conservatives have the same rights as liberals and rioters."
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