GERMANTOWN, Tenn., Feb. 12, 2025 — Christmas in Germantown, Tennessee, might be merry and bright, but be careful if your decorations give a fright: you might get dragged into court and fined.
Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression filed a federal lawsuit seeking to strike down on First Amendment grounds the Memphis suburb’s ordinance dictating to residents how and when they’re allowed to display holiday decorations. On Thursday, FIRE will also defend Alexis Luttrell before a municipal court, after the Germantown resident was cited for celebrating Christmas with decorative skeletons.
“There is simply no good reason for the government to care how and when a resident celebrates a holiday in their own front yard,” said FIRE attorney Colin McDonell. “When government officials try to stop that resident from expressing their holiday spirit to others, that violates the First Amendment.”
In October, Alexis set up a decorative skeleton and skeleton dog in her front yard to celebrate Halloween. Then for Election Day, she used the same skeletons to hold political signs. But in December, a Germantown code officer left a notice that she was in violation of Ordinance 11-33, which decrees that home and yard holiday decorations “shall not be installed or placed more than 45 days before the date of the holiday” and must be removed within “30 days, following the date of the holiday.”
So Alexis updated her skeletons for Christmas, dressing them up for the holiday alongside her inflatable tree and Santa Claus.
But Germantown still had (ahem) a bone to pick. On Jan. 6, she received a citation from the city saying she was still in violation and that she would have to appear before a judge on Feb. 13. If found guilty, she could be subject to fines, a court order prohibiting skeletons in her holiday displays, and even city officials entering her property and forcibly removing the skeletons.
“You don’t have to like my decorations, but that doesn’t mean Germantown has the right to force me to take them down,” said Alexis. “This is America. Even our local government has to respect our rights.”
COURTESY PHOTOS OF ALEXIS AND HER HOLIDAY DISPLAYS
Germantown’s ordinance violates the First Amendment, no bones about it. To start, it targets residents’ displays based on their message — specifically, whether they celebrate a holiday. It’s perfectly legal to have miniature deer figurines in your yard year-round, for example . . . unless there’s nine of them and one of them has a red nose. The Supreme Court has long held that speech restrictions based on content are unconstitutional unless they are narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest.
“City governments can impose reasonable restrictions on yard displays that address concerns like safety, noise, or light pollution, but Alexis’s decorations aren’t harming anyone,” said McDonell. “Germantown is simply targeting protected expression.”
The ordinance is also unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination because it allows government officials to enforce their own subjective views on what decorations may celebrate a particular holiday. By refusing to permit Alexis’s skeletons as an acceptable Christmas display, Germantown is telling residents they have to celebrate Christmas the government-approved “right” way, even if they have a macabre sense of humor or just enjoy “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
How one celebrates a holiday should be dictated by their personal taste, not government officials. And many religions and cultures have different ideas of when a holiday falls or how it should be celebrated that defy Germantown’s narrow view:
- A Filipino living in Germantown might want to put up Christmas decorations as early as September.
- An Orthodox Christian wouldn’t celebrate Christmas until Jan. 7, and a Hispanic resident might intend their nativity scene to encompass both Christmas and Día de Los Reyes on Jan. 6.
- A Chinese resident would only have until Jan. 31 to keep up a “Happy New Year!” sign, even though his traditional New Year started Jan. 30.
Lastly, Germantown’s ordinance is unconstitutionally vague. Regulations have to be clear enough for the average person to know if they’re breaking the law or not, but the ordinance offers no guidance on what decorations are “intended” to celebrate a particular “holiday.” As a result, Germantown residents are constantly in the dark about which holidays their city will enforce, when they officially begin, and which decorations qualify for that holiday — and which are forbidden.
Alexis’s skeletons are currently dressed, for example, in a “Love is Love” theme. St. Valentine’s Day isn’t an official government holiday — but then neither is Halloween, and Germantown officials targeted her skeletons nonetheless. Her rainbow-colored decorations are intended as a Valentine’s Day message — but it’s also imagery about LGBT acceptance that many people display year-round. Alexis can only guess at whether her display meets the city’s definition.
With FIRE on her side, Alexis is fighting this unconstitutional ordinance. Once Valentine’s Day has passed, she has plans to put her skeletons in costumes for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Pride Month and other holidays this year and for years to come.
“Perhaps for President’s Day, I’ll dress the skeleton like a Founding Father and give him a copy of the Constitution,” said Alexis. “Maybe a visual display will make it finally sink in when they ask me to tear it down.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them.
CONTACT:
Alex Griswold, Communications Campaign Manager, FIRE: 215-717-3473; [email protected]
