I am writing in response to the letter-to-the-editor of September 25 regarding the placement of political signs. The writer is a conscientious resident who cares deeply about our town. However, her long-standing focus on the township’s sign ordinance is at odds with our traditions of political expression.
In 1994 the U.S. Supreme Court found in Ladue v. Gilleo that placing political signs on one’s own property “carries a message quite distinct from placing the same sign someplace else” and also found that a “special respect for individual liberty in the home has long been part of this nation’s culture and law, and has a special resonance when the government seeks to constrain a person’s ability to speak there.” This decision has been used to successfully challenge numerous similar laws across our country.
The township recognized the defects in its ordinance when it provided written clarification in its September, 2013, memo that stated simply that the placement of signs between the sidewalk and road was “permitted.” And during a council meeting the township attorney defended the memo, stating that free speech trumps township ordinance.
Across the world today with so many people living without the basic freedoms we take for granted, I am thankful I live in a place where I can still express myself freely.
J. Thomas Boyer
West Windsor
