ACLJ VICTORY: Village Repeals Unconstitutional Political Sign Ban

What would you do if the police showed up at your door and ordered you to remove a political sign from your front yard? The ACLJ is celebrating a victory after successfully defending the right to political speech.

A local ordinance in the village of Carrollton, Ohio, had read: “Political signs may be exhibited not more than thirty days before nor more than seven days after the date of any election.” This ordinance applied to all kinds of buildings, even to personal residences. It banned political signs in yards year-round except for a narrow time frame surrounding an election.

In 2024, longtime Carrollton residents reached out to the ACLJ after a police officer knocked on their front door and ordered that the political signs in their yard be removed. This order was so egregious that our clients thought it was a joke. However, the officer assured them it was no joking matter and ordered the removal of the Trump sign from their yard.

Prohibiting political signs until only a month before Election Day is blatantly unconstitutional. Whenever the government limits private speech on private property, it bears a heavy burden to justify its conduct. That burden becomes insurmountable when the government discriminates based on the content of people’s speech.

On behalf of our clients, the ACLJ sent a demand letter to the village of Carrollton, demanding that it stop enforcing this unconstitutional ordinance and preventing our clients from displaying political signs in their yard. Only one day after receiving our letter, the village of Carrollton responded and agreed to meet our demands – a major victory for free speech.

We are also thankful because the village has now completely repealed the political sign prohibition. In a newly revised ordinance, the village explicitly acknowledged that “governmental regulation of the posting of political signs implicates free speech rights under the First Amendment.” It stated the desire to “avoid the threatened free speech litigation over the Village of Carrollton’s current regulation and restriction of political signs.”

The amended ordinance eliminated the entire subsection that previously prohibited political signs. The village’s legislative action demonstrated the impact of constitutionally sound legal advocacy in protecting Americans’ fundamental right to political expression on their property. 

The ACLJ is proud to defend free speech. When local governments overstep their authority and infringe upon fundamental liberties, the ACLJ stands ready to take immediate legal action on behalf of everyday Americans.