For Monahan, politics cant be ignored.

The sign her landlord hung now has some questioning if this is allowed.

“The business district has been redone,” Lenoir City Attorney Walter Johnson said. “Now it’s got a big Biden banner right in the middle of it; it would be the same if it were a Trump banner. Businesses don’t generally like to have politics in their business.”

Another attorney said the issue could have been avoided.
 

“If you don’t want political signs on your property because of fallout, then you’re actually going to have to specify it in the lease,” Knoxville Attorney T. Scott Jones said.

Monahan said she didn’t think she needed it, but now, she wishes she did.

Working with the city, she’s trying to figure out if anything can be done. That includes the signs structure, where it is placed, the size and how close the election actually is.

Looking forward, however, Jones believes this may be the new normal.

“Folks can contract to do whatever they want to do, but I do think it’s kind of a new frontier that we’re going to see in leases,” Jones said.

He said it will be needed if anyone plans to contradict the first amendment.

“Everyone has a right to express themselves. and when you squelch the least of the voices, you know, when someone comes and squelches you voice, there may not be anyone there to speak up for you,” Jones said.

WVLT News has reached out to the building’s owner several times, but they haven’t responded to our requests for comment.