February 19, 2008
D.C. Council Chooses Not to Act on Noise
When we told you about David Klavitter's struggles against a noisy group of demonstrators on H Street NE a few weeks back, most everyone seemed to agree that while free speech is an important principle, it's not one that everyone has to exercise using a loud amplifier. But today the D.C. Council seemed to disagree.
Today the Council voted 7-5 to table legislation that would have placed limits on how loud protests could get. The legislation, known as the “Noise Control Protection Amendment Act of 2008,” would have set 70 dB as the point at which a protest could be classified as a disturbance, following the standard set by cities such as Miami and Los Angeles. It was inspired by Klavitter's long-running complaints about a group of Black Hebrew Israelites near his H Street NE home that regularly used amplification to make their points known, much to the chagrin of local residents.
While a number of neighborhood associations came out in favor of the bill, some organizations, including a number of labor unions and the ACLU, expressed concern that the measure would allow the city to crack down on other demonstrations.
As an an editorial in the Georgetown Voice, a student newspaper at Georgetown University, put it, the bill did not strike the right balance between free speech and the type of peace and quiet Klavitter was asking for:
Counterbalancing freedom of expression and the right to peace and quiet is extremely tricky, and this bill makes a commendable effort. Unfortunately, it’s not quite good enough and it jeopardizes D.C.’s tradition of political protest.Council members Tommy Wells, Mary Cheh, David Catania, Marion Barry and Carol Schwartz voted against tabling the bill. There are currently no set plans on whether or not the legislation will be re-introduced.Loud protests under your window may not be pleasant, but they are part of living in a city, especially D.C.
Perhaps there is a way to perfectly reconcile freedom of speech and the quest for quiet, but the D.C. Council hasn’t found it yet. Until they do we need to stay committed to the First Amendment, amplifiers and all.
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Contrary to what the Georgetown students may think, continued loud protests "under your window" are not "part of living in a city, especially D.C."
I suggest the students come down to 8th and H St and find out for themselves. Or maybe we can send these "protestors" to stand under the editorial writers windows every weekend.
I vote that we protest loudly with bullhorns outside the homes of the Councilmembers who voted to table the bill every Saturday and Sunday from now until we find something better to do.
agreed....this was just an example of jack evans selling out the residents of the city for some special interest. i'd be more than willing to protest loudly in front of his house early in the morning one nice weekend day, just to see what he thinks about it.
That G'Town Voice editorial was asinine. What part of living in DC mandates having loudspeakers blaring messages of hate during weekends in residential neighborhoods? Is that in the penumbras appendix to the Constitution?
This bill is likely dead. The unions were deadset against it b/c they thought it would be used against them. I'm not familiar with the bill's details, but maybe a more narrow focus on residential neighborhoods would be more to the unions' liking?
Regardless, I sympathize with the Ward 6 residents who have to deal with this misery.
The bill as written would not have helped mitigate the H Street NE noise situation. If ambient sound levels were measured at the rear of accelerating Metro buses, for example, the street corner orators who are the real targets of this flawed legislation would have been entitled to go out and buy more powerful amplifiers. The bill lacks sufficient specificity in sound pressure measurement practices, among other things.
sounds like we have some people here who know what it would take to make this bill actually work. anyone want to donate their expertise to he council to help write this?
thanks jack. u stink
wish we could get those crazy black hebrew israelites over to jack's block, see how he likes hearing grown men scream about rape & sodomy all day long.
According to Wells' site, the following council members voted to table the bill:
Jack Evans
Phil Mendelson
Kwame R. Brown
Jim Graham
Muriel Bowser
Harry Thomas Jr.
Yvette Alexander
Somebody should spend some quality time in front of these council members' homes with a very loud amplifier, just to see how long they can take it.
There are always problems when general laws are written to tackle specific local situations. The H St NE issue is not the only environmental sound problem in town, nor the one affecting the most people. If the soundscape is not treated seriously as a common social and environmental resource, any attempts at legislation will be just as annoying as the existing aural situation.