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TRENTON, N.J. - Even a 10-foot inflatable rat has free speech rights in New Jersey, the state's Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
In a case that pitted an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union local against a central Jersey town, the high court ruled unanimously that the rodent is protected speech under the First Amendment.
What a disaster of an article. Badly written, and trying too hard to be cute. Here are the snips you need to read:
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The super-sized rat, sitting on its hind legs and bearing fangs, is a national symbol used by organized labor to signal a labor dispute. It had been blown up and displayed at a 2005 labor event in Lawrence Township until police enforced a law that bans banners, streamers and inflatable signs, except those announcing grand openings.
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An appeals court panel ruled in 2007 that the town could ban the big black rat and affirmed the labor official's fines. The panel found the ordinance was content-neutral and was aimed at enhancing aesthetics and protecting public health and safety.
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The state Supreme Court found that the law wasn't neutral, and therefore was unconstitutional. It said an ordinance "that prohibits a union from displaying a rat balloon, while at the same time authorizing a similar display as part of a grand opening, is content-based."
In other words, the decision protects the free speech of labor unions.
Unions rock! Without them, we wouldn't need a Road to Serfdom...we'd already be there. Some people should thank the Libs and Unions for creating the middle class that most of us came from. And that the Cons have been so hard at work in trying to tear down.
Meanwhile, what the heck was wrong with the appeals court? An ordinance that allows inflatable advertising for "grand openings" by businesses but not for any other purpose is obviously not content-neutral.
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