Owner of anti-Trump sign in Oil City gets another reprieve in federal court – GoErie.com

Ed Palattella|Erie Times-News

An expletive-ladenanti-Trump sign is all but certain to remain on displayin Oil City through the election on Nov. 3.

Lawyers for the owner of the sign and Oil City have reached an agreement in federal court in Erie that prohibits the city from taking action against thesign or "other political signage that is otherwise lawful" untilNov. 4.

U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter still must approve the joint motion for relief, filed Monday. Her approval is expected given that both sides reached the deal on their own.

The agreement, if approved, eliminates the need for Baxter to hold a hearing in the case on Oct. 13. The agreement also givesOil City until Nov. 30 to answer the sign owner's lawsuit against the city in court.

A week ago, Baxter signed an agreement that allowed the sign to stay up for at least 14 days, until Oct. 13. The deal, which both sides fashioned, temporarilyhalted the First Amendment dispute over the sign.

The sign owner andcritic of President Donald Trump, William E. Healy, sued Oil City on Sept. 17. According to the suit, Oil City violated Healy's First Amendment rights by raising objections to the political sign, which includesthe phrase(Expletive) Trump."

The suit says thatHealy put up thesign on Sept. 13 on a lot he owns onCooper Avenue that he refers to as "Freedom Corner." The Oil City police chief called on Sept. 14 and told Healy's lawyerthat the chief had received complaints about the18-by-24-inch sign and considered it to be an act of disorderly conduct because of the explitive, according to the suit.

Healy agreed to remove the sign temporarily while he and his lawyer, MichaelHadley, pursued the matter in federal court, according to court records.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

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Owner of anti-Trump sign in Oil City gets another reprieve in federal court - GoErie.com