'Jesus' signs staying on rig

SYRACUSE — A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction preventing the state Department of Transportation from removing a Gouverneur contractor's religious messages on a parked tractor-trailer.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Thomas J. McAvoy on Thursday ruled the injunction will remain in effect until the case is resolved or another court directive is issued. The judge also denied the DOT's request to dismiss the lawsuit.

Daniel W. Burritt, owner of Acts II Construction Inc.: Building Bridges for Jesus, filed a lawsuit in June against DOT and Robin Disbro, the agency's Region 7 real estate specialist in Watertown.

Mr. Burritt claimed the agency is violating his free speech by making him register a parked tractor-trailer that displays religious messages.

He had been embroiled in a free-speech battle with the town of Gouverneur over the trailer on his property at 658 Route 11. The town claimed the trailer was a billboard because it was covered with messages and it told Mr. Burritt he needed a permit. He claimed the town selectively enforced its sign ordinance because of the religious nature of the messages.

Gouverneur Town Justice John W. Riordan dismissed the charge in June ruling that town law does not mention that a permit is required to erect a sign.

Mr. Burritt's case has been taken up by the Alliance Defense Fund, Washington, D.C., a legal group that advocates for religious freedoms, which agrees that his constitutional rights have been jeopardized.