“We want people to be able to have bumper stickers on their vehicles without fear of being stopped by the police,” said ACLU lawyer Gerry Weber.
In March, a police officer issued a ticket, claiming that Grier had violated a Georgia law prohibiting lewd bumper stickers.
“He said ‘you have a lewd decal on your car,’ and I said ‘I do?’” Grier said at the time. “My first thought was, one of my children had put something obscene or filthy on my car.”
According to the ACLU, Georgia’s lewd bumper sticker law was declared unconstitutional in 1991. Lawyers for the ACLU claim officers from at least four different agencies in the state have issued citations based on the law since then. Denise Grier is the first to file suit.
At the Junkman’s Daughter in Little Five Points, there is a display of political bumper stickers; some of them are R-rated.
“I don’t want to be put in the position to explain to my children what that means,” says parent Fran Dundore.
Dundore and fellow parent Rose Ann Watson say it’s a sticky issue.
“You don’t want to eliminate someone’s freedom of speech,” says Dundore. “On the other hand, you don’t want your kids to be exposed to something you can’t censor.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit against Dekalb County, as well as the officer who wrote the ticket. Because it is a pending legal action, no one with Dekalb County would comment.
The suit seeks unspecified damages, claiming Grier suffered “emotional distress.”
The Asylum Street Spankers come to Boston!
Well, the The Asylum Street Spankers are currently TOURING! and will be in the Boston area (Cambridge of course!) on Thursday, 16 Nov 2006 at 20:00 at The Passim Cultural Center! For information call 617-492-5300. I, for one, am planning on seeing these guys in person!
