A bill intended to limit noise disturbances in District of Columbia neighborhoods is being called unconstitutional by a local union because it says it violates the right to free speech.
AFL-CIO Metropolitan Washington Council political coordinator Rick Powell said the bill, scheduled for a public hearing July 9, violates the First Amendment because it would restrict non-commercial speech to 70 decibels when measured at least 50 feet from the noise source. That means protesters would not be able to use bullhorns or other amplification to get their messages out, Powell said. The union represents more than 200,000 employees in the region, including 60,000 who work mostly service and hotel jobs in D.C.
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“Does the nation’s capital want to be a place that says you can’t come here and protest?” Powell asked.
The bill, if passed, would amend a 2004 law — lobbied for by the union — meant to allow for protests outside city hotels, said the bill’s author, Council Member Tommy Wells. There are no noise restrictions on non-commercial speech in the District, unlike most states, said Wells, D-Ward 6.
Powell also takes exception to the bill because it sets a “reasonable person standard,” meaning violations would take into account the duration and direction of the noise. It would be up to police to enforce the law, Powell said.
“What Wells is proposing is more draconian than what is current law,” Powell said Monday.
Wells crafted the bill in response to neighbors living near H Street in Northeast who have complained about a loud group of street preachers that has set up shop on a street corner most Saturdays for several years.
The bill’s co-author, Council Member Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, said Monday that the bill might need to be retooled, but Wells said he did not think the union would compromise. Wells said he must “strike a balance” between the rights of protesters and residents.
