Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment Obscenity topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges Lowndes County to ban public obscenity after long-running flag dispute
Summary
Resident Steven Schreck asked the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners to adopt an ordinance banning public obscenity, saying a large profane flag has flown on a neighboring property for two years and that law enforcement advised restraint after citing a legal precedent.
Steven Schreck, a Lowndes County resident who gave his address for the record, used his public comment time to urge the board to adopt an ordinance banning public obscenity.
Schreck said he has repeatedly reported a large flag displaying an obscenity that has flown from a nearby property for about two years and described contacting Valdosta Police Department, Lowndes County 911 dispatch and the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office. He said one sheriffs office representative (Officer Baxley) told him about a May 2019 Lake City, Florida case involving a bumper sticker and obscenity that led to a legal challenge and multi-million-dollar lawsuits; Schreck said that case limited what law enforcement could do in similar circumstances. He said he was advised to "show restraint" and that the responsibility for addressing the issue had fallen on him in the form of repeated reports.
"I'm here again tonight to ask the board to pass an ordinance banning public obscenity," Schreck said at the microphone.
Schreck also apologized for any offense caused at the prior meeting by a shirt he wore and said he had raised the matter with Sheriff Polks Office, where he met with Captain Price, who had previously responded to the property. Schreck said his concern included children on school buses who pass the property and his own two children.
The request was presented during the public-comment period; commissioners did not take formal action on the request during the meeting.
Authorities referenced in public comment include the May 2019 Lake City, Florida court case described by Schreck; Schreck asserted that the court outcome curtailed local enforcement in similar obscenity complaints. The county did not respond with legal guidance or a proposed ordinance at the meeting.
