EAST ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in East St. Louis dismissed a case Tuesday that claimed a decision to remove a local company from the City of Centralia’s tow rotation violated the company’s First Amendment rights.

Judge Staci Yandle said in her ruling that the City of Centralia and its police department’s desire to provide effective police services – not perceived as racist or biased – outweighs the interests of Jerry and Sons Towing in symbolizing their “redneck heritage.”

In 2021, then Centralia Police Chief Greg Dodson announced that due to the placement of a Confederate flag at their home where excess vehicles had been towed, Jerry Patten, owner of Jerry and Sons Towing in Central City, had been advised the company had been removed from the City’s tow rotation list.

The city acknowledged Patten’s First Amendment right to display the flag but noted the city also has the freedom to decide who it does business with. The city council gave Patten an ultimatum to remove the flag or be taken off the city’s tow list.

At that time, Dodson said he felt the Confederate Battle Flag is to the African-American Community what the Swastika is to the Jewish community.

The company, however, filed a federal civil rights case against the City. But on Tuesday, Judge Yandle issued a summary judgment in the case, dismissing the claims against defendants then-Police Chief Greg Dodson, interim Mayor Herb Williams, and then City Council members Howard Jones, Robert Smith, Andre Marshall, and David Sauer.