High court to get inflatable rat case - By ANGELA DELLI SANTI/AP, NJ Blog, New Jersey
The super-sized rat — on its hind legs and bearing fangs — had been blown up and situated at a 2005 labor event until police ticketed the senior union official onsite for violating a local sign law.
The event, at Gold's Gym in Lawrence, was staged by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to protest low wages being paid to electricians by an out-of-area contractor. The rat is a symbol used by organized labor to signal a labor dispute or the use of nonunion workers.
The labor official, Wayne DeAngelo, was fined $100 plus $33 court costs for violating a Lawrence Township ordinance preventing the display of the large, rat-shaped balloon.
The law bans banners, streamers and inflatable signs, except those announcing grand openings.