The Big Blow-up Rat is in Brooklyn, New York

And it Has Won Legal Rights

If you live in any major city you have probably seen the big blow-up rat (see photos) standing tall amid workers at a construction site. For the last few weeks, a big gray one has taken up residence at a construction site in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.

Recently, this 10 foot inflatable rat has been guaranteed free speech rights in New Jersey, due to the state's Supreme Court ruling on Thursday, February 5, 2009. The big rodent is protected speech under the First Amendment.

It was the case of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union local against a central New Jersey town. The high court ruled unanimously in favor of the big rat. Writing for the court Justice John E. Wallace said "The township's elimination of an entire medium of expression without a readily available alternative renders the ordinance overbroad."

The giant rat sitting on its hind legs and bearing its fangs and claws is a national symbol used by organized labor to signal there is a labor dispute. In New Jersey it had been blown up and displayed at a 2005 labor event in Lawrence Township until the local police enforced a law banning streamers, banners, and inflatable signs - unless they were announcing a grand opening.

The use of the rat at the protest event was organized and staged by the union protesting low wages being paid to electricians by an out-of-area contractor. In this case the labor official was fined $100 plus $33 in court costs.

Back in 2007 an appeals court panel ruled that the town could ban the big rat and affirmed the fines for the labor official. The panel found that the ordinance was content-neutral and that it was aimed at enhancing aesthetics and protecting safety and public health. The union appealed.

Lawyers for the union argued that the law violated their right to free expression and suppresses protest. However, the township claimed that the union's use of the rat was a form of commercial speech and was less deserving of protection under the First Amendment.