A retired Pennsylvanian school teacher had the opportunity to move to the Philippines to teach English. Afterward Can’t sell my old pickup truck onlinein an effort to sell everything before moving, Will Cramer decided to throw the For Sale sign into the window to let passersby know it’s on the market. One day, his 1987 Chevrolet had a ticket under the wiper saying he would violate local ordinances “Parking in a public place for the purpose of selling the car.”
“I’m retired and I’m finally planning on moving to another country, so I need to sell my truck urgently,” Will Cramer said. “I want to sell some of my items and not take them with me. I don’t want to store them.”
Cramer initially went ahead and paid the fine, but his check bounced because the city said it owed an additional late fee. Furious at the ridiculousness and bureaucratic nonsense of the situation, he set out to do something about it. Cramer teamed up with the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm, to sue Nazareth over the ordinance, claiming it violated his First Amendment rights.
“People have been putting For Sale signs on car windows for as long as cars have existed, and there is no good reason for the government to ban them,” said Bobbi Taylor, one of the attorneys representing Cramer. ”.
“Americans have a First Amendment right to truthfully advertise what they are selling, including placing For Sale signs in their car windows.”
Nazareth enacted a law in 1991, based on Leheight Valley Direct, apparently to prevent a car-enthusiast businessman from selling cars on his doorstep. According to Council President Daniel Chiavaroli, a resident at the time would buy specialty mechanical products, repair them and sell them. He went on to say that he does not want people using the streets for commercial purposes and that street parking in Nazareth is a privilege, not a right. That guy sounds crazy
It is worth noting that Cramer’s residence does not have a driveway and he is still using the truck for transportation as there is a sign in the window.
Luckily, Cramer ended up selling the truck to someone who saw the sign in the window. Now that the truck is gone, he’s still fighting the overreach of this tyrannical city. I, for one, hope he wins. Dying in bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all these days for one chance to come back here and tell Nazareth, Penn. that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom?
