Franklin, Tennessee, is enforcing zoning rules that flat-out contradict the First Amendment — and yes, we’re talking about signs and flags in people’s own yards.
The city limits residents to just two temporary signs and three flags per lot, and even worse, you can only display those signs for three months per year. Government overreach, meet the front yard.
Worse still, the city regulates signs based on what they say, with different rules for campaign messages, construction notices, and other signs a bureaucrat decides are “temporary.” That’s textbook content-based discrimination — and it’s presumptively unconstitutional under Supreme Court precedent.
Franklin says it’s working on amending the ordinance. That’s a start — but the fix must respect the Constitution. Here’s what a First Amendment-compliant policy requires:
- No content-based rules. Government has no business deciding what speech is allowed based on its message — whether it’s a political cause or a personal belief.
- No time limits. Free expression doesn’t expire after 90 days. Proposals allowing more flags only around holidays are patronizing — not protective.
- No unjustified numerical limits. The city shouldn’t be setting quotas without evidence they are solving a real and serious problem. And small flags? They should be allowed in greater numbers.
This policy isn’t just legally flawed — it’s deeply wrong. Yard signs and flags are how everyday people speak, protest, mourn, or celebrate. Limiting them isn’t keeping order — it’s controlling expression. Today it’s two signs. Tomorrow it’s one. Next week, it’s none — unless you get a permit.
This is more than bad policy. It's a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to live in a free country.
Tell the City of Franklin: your front yard is not up for negotiation. Franklin must revise its zoning ordinance to comply with the First Amendment and stop treating peaceful expression like a public nuisance.
Email the Mayor and City Aldermen today. Demand they respect residents’ constitutional rights and remove these unlawful, absurd restrictions. Let’s remind them: a government that fears signs and flags in yards has forgotten what the flag is supposed to stand for.
