What began as a message for the Brockport community turned into a heated debate about free speech.
In late January, the Brockport First Baptist Church put the following message on their Main Street sign. “Do Justice. Love Kindness. Abolish ICE.” Within 48 hours of the display, the Brockport Village Board had received enough backlash that they reached out to Rev. Dan Brockway with their constituents’ concerns.
Brockway outlined the nature of the call he received from Village Code Enforcement Officer Chad Fabry in a Facebook live stream on Jan. 30.
“He ordered me, it was not a request, he wasn’t asking,” Brockway said on the livestream. “He was compelling me to change the message on the sign immediately because it’s a political message.”
Fabry told Brockway that political messages were “beyond the purview of what [Brockport First Baptist] is permitted to display on [the] sign.”
“I told him that I have no intention of changing the message on the sign because it is not political,” Brockway said. “I find that to be a moral message and well within our rights as a religious organization to express.”
The Village Board questioned the legality of the sign.
“Their sign required a variance,” Fabry said. A zoning variance acts as “an ‘exception’ to the zoning regulations, which can only be granted when specific standards or criteria are met.” In the case of the Brockport First Baptist Church, the variance permitted them to install an LED sign in the historical district of Brockport, which is otherwise prohibited.
In the variance application, the church agreed the sign would be used to post changes to the church schedule and promote upcoming events. The sign was approved by the Brockport Village Board under these conditions.
Two hours after their initial call, Fabry called Brockway back to tell him he had “read the variance a little more closely.” Fabry told Brockway he was “not actually sure that he had the legal authority to compel [First Baptist] to change the sign.”
Fabry contacted an attorney for a legal opinion and found the church was within its rights to post the message.
In an email written to Brockway and shared to the Brockport First Baptist Church’s Facebook page, Fabry wrote “Neither the zoning board nor local law can dictate the message on your sign. Restrictions, inferred or specific, cannot restrict content. This applies to any sign, even those that require variances.”
The law is very clear about what constitutes free speech and who can exercise such speech and under what conditions. In a time where people’s sensibilities are being challenged, the rule of law is the one thing that people can count on.
In his Facebook live conversation, Rev. Brockway encouraged Village residents to voice their opinions.
“Drop [Fabry] a line even if you don’t like the stuff that’s on our sign, and if you hate that sign, drop him a line and let him know that. Because that is your right, that is your freedom of speech, even if you disagree with us. Which consequently also happens to be the reason why our sign isn’t going anywhere.”
The Brockport First Baptist Church changes the messaging on its sign every Monday.
Canalside Chronicles will be digging into this story further.
