Some Longmont residents are upset about a sign their neighbor has posted on his front lawn on 17th Avenue, but the city and police say they can’t take any action because it doesn’t violate any laws or codes.

The sign, a wood board chained to a tree in Harry McNevin’s front yard, reads “Judge Kavanaugh Gang Raped By Democrats” in all-capital, red letters.

McNevin, who has in the past stirred up controversy with signs about Muslims, declined to comment on Thursday.

Chris Dodge, who lives nearby on 18th Avenue, said that while he has considered most of McNevin’s previous signs racist, “this one, in my opinion, has drawn completely across the line.”

“This has nothing to do with politics,” Dodge said, calling it offensive to women. “This is nasty, ugly.”

Dodge said that other neighbors are upset as well, and many have taken to the private social app NextDoor to complain.

While Dodge has contacted Longmont about the sign, Code Enforcement Supervisor Shannon Stadler said there’s nothing that can be done.

“We are not allowed to regulate content on a sign,” Stadler said, explaining that sign code is forbidden from doing so by law.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert in 2015 stated that regulating signs based on content violated the First Amendment.

The sign also doesn’t violate any laws, as it states McNevin’s opinion, according to Longmont police Cmdr. Joel Post.

When McNevin posted a sign in his yard in 2017 reading “Muslim’s kill Muslim’s (sic) if they don’t agree. Where does that leave you, ‘infidel,'” city officials asked him to remove it or change the wording.

At first he declined, but later he took it down. His lawyer at the time, Jeanette Eirich, told the Times-Call that people were threatening to protest and destroy his property.

Madeline St. Amour: 303-684-5212, mstamour@prairiemountainmedia.com