Washington – The office of a Missouri congressman says he intends to file a federal lawsuit over the removal of a constituent’s painting from its display on Capitol Hill.
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The painting, which shows a pig in a police uniform, divided members of Congress for its depiction of Ferguson, Missouri, where weeks of protests occurred after the police shooting of an unarmed black man.
The painting, one of 400-plus winning entries in the Congressional Arts Competition, hung in a tunnel leading to the Capitol for more than seven months.
Some conservative media outlets called for its removal and Republican lawmakers took it down and returned it to Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay’s office. Clay put it back up, saying its removal violated a constituent’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression.
Clay’s office said he will file a lawsuit Tuesday “in response to the arbitrary and unconstitutional disqualification and removal” of the painting.
“Congressman Clay is seeking an appropriate remedy through this federal litigation and he is proud to defend both the fundamental rights of his constituent and the First Amendment,” according to an advisory his office sent in advance of a press conference Clay intends to hold Tuesday outside the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Let him just replace it with a painting of a pig in a suit sitting in the House. I’m sure if it’s good for cops it’s good for a congressman.
Freedom of speech and expression only applies to people like me, not to liberals!
Better idea. Let’s create a painting of a pig body with the head/face of this congressman, and hang it next to this constituent picture. There can be a small engraved tag that identifies this congressman as the one who insisted that derogatory displays that attack law enforcement should be permitted in the Capitol, despite being in poor taste and inciteful.
I think the concept of respect is going out of the American vocabulary and is being replace by a concept called freedom of speech whereas you are free to insult everyone and anyone.
Yesterday I was disgusted by a person who wore a T-shirt with the word F*** in large letters on it. Isn’t this going too far?
It should be replaced with a painting of a gang banger, listening to rap music in his car.