Alexis Luttrell put a skeleton and a skeleton dog in her yard to commemorate Halloween. After Halloween passed, Luttrell repurposed the skeleton and skeleton dog so they could be integrated into her Christmas decorations. However, officials Germantown, Tennessee weren’t pleased and issued Luttrell a court summons, stating that her decorations violated city code.
Germantown bans residents from installing holiday decorations more than 45 days before the date of a holiday and requires residents to remove seasonal decorations within 30 days after a holiday. In this case, it appears Germantown officials were offended by Luttrell’s use of skeletons in her Christmas decorations. You would think that only a grinch would look at Luttrell’s decorations and think they deserve a court summons.
Germantown’s enforcement actions violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A core principle of the First Amendment is that the government generally can’t discriminate against speech based on what it says or who put it up. And here, that includes the decorations that someone puts up to celebrate. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its 2015 decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, made clear that those kind of content-based regulations must serve the most compelling of government interests. Installing holiday decorations “too early” or keeping them up “too late” simply doesn’t fit the bill.
That’s why the Institute for Justice (IJ) issued a statement followed a couple days later by a letter condemning the city of Germantown for its brazen violation of Americans’ free speech rights and calling on them to cease all enforcement actions against Alexis. Americans shouldn’t be hauled into court for simply incorporating some plastic skeletons into their Christmas decorations.
Team
Attorneys

Robert Frommer
Senior Attorney
Staff

Matthew Prensky
Communications Associate
Letter
Tennessee Holiday Decorations Letter
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