For several years, William Bowden of Cary, North Carolina, had been in a dispute with the town government over damage done to his property by water runoff from a road project. In July 2009, he grew fed up with the lack of response from local officials over his complaints, so he decided to make clear how he felt. He hired a sign painter to write in large, fluorescent orange letters “Screwed by the Town of Cary” on the front of his house. The trick got an immediate response from Cary officials, who contacted him the next day to tell him to take down the sign. Bowden refused, saying the town owed him for the damage caused to his house and property by roadwork performed in front of his property. Cary’s zoning department then began fining Bowden for non-compliance over the sign — $100 fine for day one, $250 for day two, a $500 a day after that. Once the ACLU stepped in and filed a lawsuit on behalf of Bowden, Cary officials agreed to cease levying the fines while the matter gets settled in court.