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Two cited for obscene bumper stickers, flags file suit against Pikeville

Staff file photo / Attorney Neal Pinkston is litigating case about free speech. “It comes down to the evaluation of how far the First Amendment is extended to individuals,” he said. Staff file photo / Attorney Neal Pinkston is litigating case about free speech. “It comes down to the evaluation of how far the First Amendment is extended to individuals,” he said.

By Ellen Gerst August 20, 2024 4 min read

Two men are suing the police department in Pikeville, Tennessee, after being cited for displaying stickers and flags that officers said were obscene.

The men, Cumberland County residents Robert Bowen and Dustin Bolin, say Tennessee’s law governing obscenity is too broad.

The law says you can’t display “obscene and patently offensive” bumper stickers, window signs or markings on or inside your car that are visible to other drivers.

It’s not often enforced in Tennessee — for example, no one in Hamilton County has been charged under that statute at least since the start of 2020, a clerk said.