Ross Brunet said that Grand Isle town officials had violated his First Amendment rights and state laws when he was punished in connection with displaying political flags on his truck.
Sept. 16, 2023, 12:50 AM UTCA small town in Louisiana will rescind an ordinance and allow a contractor to fly anti-Biden flags with vulgar language from his truck under a settlement Friday in federal court.
The agreement affecting the town of Grand Isle states that Ross Brunet of Cut Off was"wrongfully cited for engaging in constitutionally protected speech of flying flags with political message" when he was repeatedly cited for a pair of flags with expletives aimed atGrand Isle agreed to repeal an ordinance restricting temporary signs on vehicles containing offensive or vulgar language by Oct. 20 under terms of the settlement in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The settlement comes after Tulane First Amendment Law Clinic filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brunet, who said that town officials violated his right to free speech and Louisiana state laws when they punished him over the flags on his truck which read in all caps: “F--- Biden” and “And f--- you for voting for him,” in smaller font.
While Brunet successfully defended against the firs four citations, in 2022 he was cited three more times"for the simple act of" flying the flags, his lawyers said. The additional citations were dropped in September of last year, after Grand Islethat barred signs on vehicles exceeding 20 x 30 inches or containing language that described a sex act or was “deemed offensive and vulgar.”
Brunet's lawyers had argued that the ordinance was adopted"to silence Mr. Brunet’s core political speech specifically." As part of the settlement, the town agreed to repeal the ordinance.