When Does A Sign Become A Crime?

Here’s a riddle for you: 

It’s legal to park your car in the street. It’s legal to have a sign on your car. Why might doing both make you a criminal?

That’s the question we’re asking in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Will Cramer found himself at the center of this baffling scenario—and to untangle it, he joined with IJ to file a First Amendment lawsuit.

It all started last year, when Will decided to sell his truck. After online ads went nowhere, he purchased a for-sale sign and placed it on the truck’s window while it was parked outside his house. Will doesn’t have a driveway, so he parks on the street—completely legally.

It’s also perfectly legal to place a sign in a car. Will’s sign could have said “Go Phillies” or “Vote Mary” without issue. If the sign advertised Will’s teaching services or a local business, he’d be fine. 

But because Will’s sign said “for sale,” it was a crime. 

Why? Nazareth’s law prohibits parking a vehicle “for the purpose of selling” it. But the police don’t ask whether you’ve parked for the purpose of selling a car. They just give a ticket whenever they see a sign. Nazareth’s law effectively bans for-sale signs in cars—based on their content. 

This isn’t just absurd, it’s unconstitutional. Governments can’t ban specific messages. The First Amendment protects all forms of speech, including the time-honored ability to put a for-sale sign on your truck. 

IJ has always been at the forefront of defending speech that is common in everyday life, including commercial speech (advertising) and occupational speech (of people who speak for a living, like tour guides and diet coaches). These are categories of speech the Supreme Court has traditionally under-protected, giving the government a freer hand when speech intersects with economic activity. But IJ has steadily persuaded courts to give commercial and occupational speech full First Amendment protections.

And this isn’t IJ’s first foray into car-for-sale signs. In 2007, we won an 8-7 decision in front of the entire 6th Circuit (which covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee). Because of that close decision, the outcome of Will’s case in a different circuit could mean a confrontation at the Supreme Court over local government power to regulate traditional low-cost forms of commercial speech. 

Writing “for sale” on a sign shouldn’t make you a criminal. Our new suit will make that the constitutional law in even more jurisdictions throughout the country.

Bobbi Taylor is an IJ attorney and Jeff Rowes is an IJ senior attorney.