Judge: Woman Can Flip Off Neighbors Via Holiday Lights

A Louisiana woman can resume giving her neighbors an unusual holiday greeting— Christmas lights in the shape of a middle finger. Sarah Childs was in a dispute with some of her neighbors in Denham Springs, just east of Baton Rouge, and decided to send a message with her decorations. Neighbors complained, and police threatened to arrest her, so she and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana sued the city. A judge ruled in her favor this week, citing her rights to free speech and due process.

"I imagine it will be back up before too long," said an ACLU official. Childs put up the lights on her roof last month. She has removed them twice, once after a police officer told her she could be fined and again after another officer threatened to arrest her, her lawsuit said. Now they can go back up, at least until a Jan. 7 hearing. It's not clear what the original dispute is about. (More Christmas stories.)