Some people just can’t take whimsy. But in the case of a South Milwaukee, Wisconsin homeowner’s two giant yard skeletons, it looks like fun will end up winning the day, according to CBS News reported. Sean Oster said the city’s inspection office called to tell him the display could stay, ending a monthslong standoff over the 12-foot figures. The reversal came after a public-interest law firm warned the city that forcing their removal would violate his First Amendment rights.
Oster and his wife, Laura, have kept the two skeletons, named Hector and Henrietta, in their front yard on North Chicago Avenue since late 2024. They dress the skeletons up for each season and holiday. Right now they’re dressed up in a Fourth of July theme. Neighbors have stopped to take photos for nearly two years, and many say the skeletons have become part of the neighborhood.
The dispute began with a Notice of Violation the Osters received on May 20 after someone complained. The city cited the display as “large Halloween decorations being displayed not during appropriate time of year” and pointed to a property maintenance code that bars anything considered an unreasonable blighting influence. The notice also flagged junk, stored equipment, and two disabled vehicles on the property, and set a July 7 deadline to fix everything or face fines of up to $500 per day, according to TMJ4.
Oster said he corrected the other violations but refused to remove the skeletons, arguing the display was not hurting anyone. The Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm, then sent the city a letter calling the order an unconstitutional attempt to regulate the content of the Osters’ speech. Days after the deadline passed, the city backed off.
Why the City Said the Skeletons Had to Go
South Milwaukee’s case rested on its property maintenance code, which requires yards to be kept free of anything the city treats as an unreasonable blighting influence. City officials read that to include holiday decorations left up long after the season, and the notice described the skeletons as out-of-season Halloween decorations and as temporary structures standing longer than the 60 days the code allows.
City leaders described it as a standard code enforcement matter that grew complicated once the skeletons became the sticking point. The mayor, Brett Briesemeister, framed it that way, and the city administrator said the goal was voluntary compliance. As the deadline neared, city officials declined to say whether they would actually fine Oster, citing a pending investigation.
What Made South Milwaukee Reverse Course?
The Institute for Justice argued that the order singled out the skeletons for the message they sent, which the First Amendment doesn’t allow. In its letter, IJ attorney Jimmy Odell wrote that a city’s zoning power is limited to health and safety, and that a patriotic display or a political sign would not have drawn the same treatment.
South Milwaukee never tested the argument in court. The inspection office called Oster to tell him the skeletons could stay, and the city dropped the removal demand. With the order gone, Hector and Henrietta remain on North Chicago Avenue in their Fourth of July outfits, and Oster has declared July 10 their Independence Day. And if you drive by while you’re in the neighborhood, you can say hello to them as they’re standing out in the yard.