Kent officer tickets man for 'Impeach Bush' sign

[Algorem]

Source: Plain Dealer

Thursday, August 09, 2007
James Ewinger
Plain Dealer Reporter

Kent -

...Today Kevin Egler is fighting that in Kent Municipal Court, and the case is emerging as a free-speech issue of interest well beyond the boundaries of placid Portage County...


Egler and about a dozen friends and associates have placed hundreds of anti-war messages around Ohio and neighboring states over the past 10 months. He said the effort is fueled by the notion that President Bush's military response after the 9/11 terrorist attacks was both illegal and immoral...


Columbus attorney Bob Fitrakis, Egler's lawyer, said there is a difference: The real estate sign is commercial speech, and Egler's sign is political. Commercial messages do not have anywhere near the legal protections that political speech does, he said.

Fitrakis does extensive legal work on First Amendment issues and is the publisher of the nationally recognized online publication freepress.org. He said this is the first Ohio case of its kind that he has heard of, because most prosecutions for political signs occur when someone defaces a building with paint or graffiti, but not a free-standing, easily removable sign. Until now...



Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/portage/118664980199160.xml&coll=2

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I can't help but wonder

would the man be prosecuted if his sign had said Support Bush He Is God or something similar?

[BlueJazz]

2. Maybe a "Double Meaning" Sign would have been better..Um...Like..

"I Love the Monkey Man"

[Demit]

3. To help fill out the story: "Police ticketed Egler for unlawfully advertising in a public place

because he put up a free-standing sign near the intersection of Haymarket Parkway and Willow and Main streets."

—for people who don't click on the story. (The Plain Dealer website is awfully slow, and finally hung up my browser.)

[bigworld]

4. hypocrisy?

Yet no one is ever prosecuted for the thousands of 1-800-GET-JUNK or other advertising signs stuck up in public places.

[Demit]

5. I imagine they are, on occasion. Like when they're caught in the act.

Even though the cop in this story was overzealous, probably because of his personal politics, and not too up on this particular law, I imagine most police on patrol have their eyes peeled for more egregious crimes, unless you're doing something right in front of their face. I don't have a problem with that as a general priority.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. I take down street spam,

and I'm not the only one.

Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam (CAUSS)

Putting up those signs is a violation of a city ordinance. I also take down real estate signs if they're left up on a permanent basis, or if they're attached to a traffic sign or blocking a sidewalk.

Signs posted by egregious serial offenders get taken to the city's Office of Planning and Zoning.

Political signs are legal in my city, but, sheesh, do I hate those things. The only time I take them down is if they've been put up by someone who robocalls me day after day and if they have been put in a place where they are not allowed. Political signs are not to be put up within fifteen feet of an intersection, as they block the view of oncoming traffic, especially motorcycles.

I have no knowledge of this case, but if the sign were blocking the view of traffic at the intersection, the guy should have been ticketed. Does anyone have a picture of the sign? Most people putting signs up couldn't care less about maintaining a view of traffic.

Few things uglify a city more than street spam.

[Tesha]

9. Be careful!

> I take down street spam, ...

Be careful! In New Hampshire, it would appear that
you would be violating the law! While I don't think
it's been litigated (and certainly not recently),
only certain designated government officials (or
their delegated employees) can legally remove
street spam, and even then, they have to make
provisions to return it to the owner!

Even though it's the moral equivalent of litter,
it seems to have legal protection!

Tesha

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. Where I live,

it's considered abandoned property. If you want to take it down, go right ahead. Since I turn it in to the city, city workers know what I am doing.

In adjacent Arlington, real estate signs can be up between sundown Friday and sundown Sunday. On three-day weekends, they can be up until sundown Monday. Anything outside those bounds is fair game. Real estate agents will replace signs that have been correctly removed, so sometimes I take down a sign in the same location more than once.

[Demonaut]

14. I've removed political signs from public places,

removed about eighty regardless of affiliation, most were dupes...someone once took down my license plate number but no one knocked at my door:D

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. on one occasion,

when I was taking down commercial signs, a fellow watching me came over and got belligerent. He announced that he was a Republican, and that he would put up signs anywhere in Arlington County he wanted. I pointed out that a) we were in Alexandria, and b) I was taking down commercial signs, not political ones. He persisted. I thanked him for his concern, rolled up the window, locked the doors, and drove away.

[onehandle]

7. He was ticketed for littering in one case.

In most places putting up signs anywhere you want is illegal. If it wasn't, our streets would be a sea of day-glow little signs.

Not everything is a conspiracy.

[Donkeykick]

8. Although...

I support the sign in question, but placing one on public property is not right.

Just like placing religious symbols of any kind on public property is not right, too!:shrug:

[progressoid]

10. Yeah...but.

One has to wonder if they would be prosecuting him if he had been putting up "God is Love" signs or "Come worship at Jebus' new Megachurch and Health Spa"

[EnricoFermi]

12. The question

is not whether what he was doing was against laws or ordinances, but whether he was given special enforcement. This is always the thing to ask because there are countless laws that provide plenty of excuses for getting rid of many of our liberties. There is always some ordinance, for safety or cleanliness, which has nothing to do with politics that will provide the means for silencing dissent.

The way we lose our civil liberties is through excuses made by both those enforcing the laws and the citizens around them.

Whether one believes this is a conspiracy or not, it must be taken seriously each time.

You are right about the other signs. I don't see those people being arrested, EVER. It would after all be unamerican and unchristian to take down those signs.

[treestar]

15. I think you are right

It explains why we have so many damn laws.

My relative, a cop, said nobody can make a trip driving a car without violating at least one law.

That helps target people.

[rateyes]

13. Placing religious symbols on public property is a violation

of the first amendment's guarantee of the separation of church and state--especially if the state is the one to erect it. Political speech is protected anywhere, as long as it is not a safety hazard, or doesn't deface said property.

[Lost4words]

11. I wouldnt have a problem if Egler had nailed it to *s face!

with a 16lb sledge hammer!

[corbett]

16. Mr. Fitrakis Knows His Stuff

He was a key player in the 2004 Ohio recount debacle. If he hadn't been blocked at every turn, we would have known THEN rather than two years later that Senator Kerry actually won Ohio.

[Algorem]

19. new-"Sign charges dropped against Kent man"

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/08/charges_dropped_against_kent_m.html

Posted by Plain Dealer Reporter James Ewinger August 09, 2007 15:39PM
Categories: Breaking News

Kevin Egler, who was ticketed after posting an "Impeach Bush" sign in a garden near a Kent intersection last month, will not face a charge of unlawfully advertising in a public place.

City Law Director James Silver asked a municipal judge on Thursday to dismiss the case, which some viewed as a free-speech issue. However, Silver said he may file a littering charge against Egler.

Egler said he and about a dozen friends have posted hundreds of anti-war messages around Ohio and neighboring states over the past 10 months to protest President Bush's military response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A Kent police officer ticketed Egler on July 25. Egler said the citation in his hometown represented the first serious legal challenge to the campaign.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Kevin+Egler&btnG=Search+News

http://www.google.com/search?tab=nw&hl=en&ned=us&q=Kevin%20Egler

http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ned=us&um=1&tab=wb&q=Kevin+Egler&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d

[Tesha]

20. Oh no! He's gonna have to sit on the "Group W" bench!

> ...Silver said he may file a littering charge against Egler.

Oh no! Eggler's gonna have to sit on the "Group W" bench!

"Litterin'"

Tesha

[Senator]

21. K&R