I live in a small town just outside Charlotte, NC. It was certainly a culture shock of sorts moving from Atlanta to Charlotte, which was like going back in time about twenty years, but then moving to where I live now often seems like a flat-out mistake. On the surface it appears quaint and historic but underneath lies a deep, dark secret – a supreme lack of class. While walking my dogs I came across a sign. I wrote my local city government who responded with:
“Thank you for your email. I agree that the wording of the sign is not in good taste. I am not sure whether that kind of expression is constitutionally protected, but I will pass this information along to the City's Legal Department and to Code Enforcement for to ask them to look into it.”
To which I responded:
“Thanks for the response. If that wording is constitutionally protected and also allowed by the City of Concord, I've got some great ideas for yard signs of my own!”
Then I got an email from the city’s lawyer:
“There is no Constitutional protection for obscenity. Obscenity is not protected by the US Constitution. It is not protected by the NC Constitution. As you report the sign is written, the sign is in violation of Concord ordinance. (I have not seen the sign.) The matter has been turned over to the Code Enforcement Div of the Police Dept."
As I reported the sign is written? I’m pretty sure I can remember three words and the order in which they’re printed. So I got my camera and took a picture. The sign was down by the end of the next day.
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