A rural upstate town violated the free speech rights of a resident by trying to deter him from displaying political signs on his property, some containing swastikas and messages saying his neighbor and the town’s supervisor should be in jail, a federal judge has ruled.
The town of Groton’s efforts to have John Beck paint over the signs, or at least the swastikas, “reflects an intent to inhibit Beck’s exercise of free speech,” Northern District Judge David Hurd said following a bench trial in Beck v. Town of Groton, 5:11-cv-240.
