OLC Secured First Amendment Win Protecting Political Yard Signs

A federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has entered a binding Consent Judgment in a case brought by local residents challenging their village’s removal of political yard signs from private homes and property. The ruling affirms the constitutional right of individuals to display political messages on private land, and declares that government officials may not interfere with that right without lawful authority.

The litigation began in August 2024, when the Hemlock, Michigan law firm Outside Legal Counsel PLC filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of candidate Troy Freed and homeowner Amy Paul, alleging that officials of the Village of St. Charles had adopted a practice of banning campaign yard signs installed outside a 60-day window before an election. According to the complaint, Village President Edgar Tithof rode his bicycle around the village and removed Freed’s campaign signs from private homeowners’ yards. When Freed objected, the Village Manager Hartmann Aue and Police Chief Jason Oliver backed the Village President’s actions and posted on social media that, beginning Monday August 26, 2024, the Village’s law enforcement “will be checking the entire village for political signs” and that the Chief “will personally have to remove them.” The Chief added that any removed signs would be reported to the Michigan Bureau of Elections. 

The pair of lawsuits challenged those actions as a violation of the First Amendment and sought a declaration that the Village’s enforcement was unconstitutional, along with an injunction, damages, and attorney fees. 

The issued Consent Judgment confirms that the display of political signs on private property enjoy full protection under the First Amendment and that municipal attempts to enforce time-based or content-based bans must meet strict constitutional standards. Under the terms of the Consent Judgment, the Village of St. Charles is permanently enjoined from removing or threatening to remove political yard signs from private property unless such regulation is adopted in strict compliance with federal law. The judgment also requires the Village to publicly affirm that its zoning ordinance does not regulate political signs on private property and to pay damages to Plaintiffs Freed and Paul plus attorney fees.

Attorney Philip L. Ellison, representing both plaintiffs, commented: “This outcome reaffirms the principle that political speech belongs to the people — not the government. Officials are not the speech police. Campaign signs are a vital form of grassroots expression, and the First Amendment does not permit a local municipality to declare a silent zone before or after an election.” 

The case underscores that municipal officials must respect the constitutional boundaries when regulating electoral speech. The Village of St. Charles is now under a legally binding obligation to ensure all future measures affecting political signage respect due process, prompt notice and opportunity to respond, and cannot be enforced absent a properly enacted ordinance.

Outside Legal Counsel PLC, based in Hemlock, Michigan, specializes in constitutional law, property-rights litigation, and civil-rights enforcement. The firm represents clients statewide defending their fundamental rights against government overreach.