Second Circuit Voids Noise Ordinance As Applied To Preacher

On Thursday, in Deegan v. City of Ithaca, (2d Cir., April 6, 2006), the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld free speech and due process claims raised by Kevin Deegan, a Christian preacher, who challenged Ithaca, New York's application of its noise ordinance to prevent him from preaching in a raised voice in the downtown Ithaca Commons. The city interprets its noise ordinance to cover any noise, including speech, that can be heard 25 feet away. Finding that Ithaca Commons is a public forum, the court held that the city, by setting sound levels as low as it does, violated the First Amendment because it has not narrowly tailored its regulation to serve its interest in maintaining a reasonable level of sound. The court also concluded that Deegan did not have fair notice of the city's 25-foot rule in enforcement of its regulation, but denied his claim of selective enforcement.