Here’s an editorial warning for the linguistically sensitive before you read this article: while containing direct quotes from the October 14, 2025 opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the reader of this article will encounter several references to both the literal and euphemistic slur “Fuck.” So, if that bothers you, stop reading now. But, if you’re still with me, you’ll be entertained I think by the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in BA vs Tri County Area Schools, which is attached here. And, the case, while directly pertaining to a school administration’s ability to curtail the First Amendment rights of students, also represents a serious slippery slope to municipal regulation of obscene messages on signage.

The Court began the lengthy and scholarly opinion with the historical background and origin of the now infamous slogan, “Let’s Go Brandon”:

“On October 2, 2021, Brandon Brown, a professional racecar driver, scored his fist mayor win at the Sparks 300, a NASCAR Xfinity Series race, at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.  But it was what happened afterward that propelled his name into the national consciousness. During a post-race interview with Brandon, the crowd began to audibly chant the phrase “Fuck Joe Biden.” As the chant increased in volume, NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast interjected on live TV: “You can hear the chants from the crowd, “Let’s Go Brandon.” While it is unclear whether Stavast had misheard the crowd or whether she was simply trying to put a fig leaf over the chant’s vulgarity, the damage was done. The clear disconnect between what the crowd was chanting and what Stavast had claimed caused the clip and its audio to proliferate. The phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” became, for lack of a better term, a meme.”

After this explanation, the Court went on to note the obvious: “With the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” so firmly established in the national lexicon, its addition to shirts, sweatshirts, and flags was inevitable.” And, I would also personally add billboards and other signage to the list of potential displays as well. So, as the Court continued, this “brings us to the events underlying this suit.”

The facts of the case are relatively simply, and rather humorous.  Brothers, identified as DA and XA in the opinion, attended Tri County Middle School in Howard City, Michigan in the sixth and eighth grades. Their mother, BA and the Plaintiff in the case, gave each of her sons as Christmas presents sweatshirts emblazoned with the slogan “Let’s Go Brandon,” which they wore to school. The school principal instructed the boys to remove their sweatshirts as profane and disruptive. They complied, only to reveal t-shirts underneath the sweatshirts with the same message. So, the principal sent the students home and instructed them to return only after changing into appropriate school attire. The mother sued in Federal District Court, alleging First Amendment and Civil Rights violations. The trial court dismissed the case, and the appellate court affirmed.

The Majority in the two to one opinion readily recognized that “the questions of what is vulgar or profane can depend on the individual.” To explain further, the Court cited well known contemporary legal scholar, or at least expert on cuss words, namely the late George Carlin: “To paraphrase the late George Carlin, everybody has a list of words that they consider profane-but the contents of that list vary greatly from person to person. In answering whether a jacket emblazoned with the words “Fuck the Draft” deserved constitutional protection, the Supreme Court noted that it’s ‘often true that one man’s vulgarity is another’s lyric.’ So, this high degree of subjectivity means that what is profane often hinges on who decides. And in related contexts, the Supreme Court has said that the question of who decides should be evaluated in a manner ‘consistent with our oft-expressed view that the education of the Nation’s youth is primarily the responsibility of parent, teachers, and state and local officials, and not of federal judges.'” In short, therefore, the Court deferred substantially to the school administrators, who it found “reasonably interpreted the phrase [Let’s Go Brandon] as having a profane meaning,” and as such, there was no constitutional violation.

So, by now you’re probably wondering, what’s all of this got to do with my billboards?  Well, I just reviewed the sign code of city in Texas for a client who is reviewing the numerous and broad prohibitions on billboards in the code, including the following: “Obscene signs in which the dominant theme of material taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex or is patently offensive because it affronts community standards relating to the description or representation of sexual matters and is utterly without redeeming social value.” That sounds pretty subjective, and devoid of any guidelines or tests to objectively determine what is obscene, and therefore prohibited and illegal. And, another Constitutional protection, namely the Due Process Clause, prevents legislation that is drafted in such vague, indefinite, and subjective terms that it “fails to give fair and adequate notice of what is permitted or prohibited, and necessitates the use of unbridled discretion … in interpretation and application.” The Texas Court of Appeals-Houston (1st District) in the billboard case of SignAd, Inc. vs City of Webster went on to explain that when “persons of common intelligence are left to guess at the meaning of [such legislation],” Due Process is violated and the law is invalidated.

As we enter into this Holiday Season, I’d add one more piece of advise, albeit personal instead of legal. Don’t wear your “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirt to the holiday dinner table. Even if in its euphemistic form, the question of whether such a slogan is vulgar or profane usually depends upon the individual reading it—just like the messages on your billboards. Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

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