Posted on 04/23/2005 10:35:45 AM PDT by SmithL
Berkeley may be the home of the Free Speech Movement, but expressing emotion with a car horn is apparently not a protected form of communication there.
An Oakland woman alleges that Berkeley police violated her First Amendment rights when an officer ticketed her last year for honking in support of a labor union's picketing outside the Claremont Resort and Spa to protest rising health care costs and other issues.
Carol Harris, 51, is appealing her $143 "unreasonable use of horn'' citation to Berkeley's Police Review Commission, which will consider the case on Thursday.
Harris was among nearly 40 motorists who received tickets beginning shortly before midnight on Aug. 27 for allegedly violating a California Vehicle Code section prohibiting the use of horns except "when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation'' of vehicles or as part of a theft- prevention system.
"I was so p -- off, I burst out laughing. I said, 'You've got to be kidding,' '' Harris said in a taped interview when recalling her reaction to being stopped by Berkeley Police Officer Thomas Grove.
Harris said in an interview Friday that she pointed out to Grove that some of the demonstrators carried signs urging passers-by to honk, and Grove told her that police did not have authority to regulate the signs -- because that is a protected form of speech.
"That's the clincher. It's my First Amendment right to voice my opinion, I believe,'' Harris said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
what about the rights of the people who have to hear all 40 honk their horns?
LOL..this is toooooo funny
True, but the scary reality is that these fools are deadly serious.
Someone should remind the woman that her fellow libs passed the anti-noise law for The Children. Surely she supports The Children, doesn't she? If the protesters said "light up if you support us," would she have lit one up? Dilemmas, dilemmas.
Hmmmm. I think I have to side with her. This really was, apparently, done in support of a political statement. There is no sign it was harrassment. Of course, being in the 9th Judicial Circuit, they probably would create a new right to own a government provided horn for homeless people so they may exercise their rights.
ROFL...good one !!!
Feel-good story of the day!
What happended to just contesting the ticket in muni court? Or do they just do it differently in Berkely?
They do everything differently there.
Since the cops/firemen/emergency personnel are union in our area they would never ever ticket honk-support of union picketers.
Our family rolls down the windows and yells 'go to work, go to work...'
Then why didn't she use her voice instead of her horn? But for some reason, I bet this woman's voice sounds just like her car horn....
"violating a California Vehicle Code section prohibiting the use of horns except "when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation'' of vehicles or as part of a theft- prevention system."
Using your automotive horn to express support for protesters isn't what it was designed for.
Everyone seems to have over looked the fact it was shortly before midnight. I would bet that there are noise ordinances also. If this is anywhere near a residential area and they were blowing thier horns shortly before midnight near my home. A ticket would be the least of their problems.
I live in Des Peres, Mo.
About a year and half ago, I also was given a ticket for "unlawful use of my horn" because I was tapping on my horn in order to entice a motorist in front of me to use the acceleration ramp to merge into traffic instead of coming to a complete stop and waiting until there was no other vehicle to be seen before accelerating from a dead stop to merge into traffic.
I did contest the ticket in municipal court and the judge dismissed it.
Then about a half a year ago, union supermarket workers were on strike and picketing in front of a local supermarket, Schnuck's.
Supporters of the union's picketing would drive by and blare their horns in support of the union.
I went to the Des Peres police station and spoke to the chief of police and asked him to send a patrol car out to the supermarket site and begin citing all of the vehicles blaring their horns "unlawfully" in support of the pickets.
The chief refused.
Talk about "equal protection under the law."
The heck with the sleeping children awakened by your stupid late night horn blowing.
Aculeus's rule: Always cross a picket line.
BTW The Claremont is a lovely hotel.
Well, seeing that the picketers were in front of a hotel . . . .
You can side with her, but you'll be on the wrong side. Horns are for emergency traffic communication. They aren't for letting your date know you are out front, and they are for "high-five-ing" protesters even if their signs urge you to break the law.
She is guilty of breaking the law and will be held accountable, unless they want to rewrite the law on the spot to protect people that agree with protesters.
What if she had been arrested for firing a gun in the air or set off firecrackers because the protesters' signs urged her. Would that be protected speech?
I'm with you and I'n flabbergasted at the people here supporting citizens getting tickets for blowing the horn!
Seems the only rights we have is the right to behave as the Goverment wants us to and everything else is punishable.
geez, there ain't a tunnel I've been thru that hasn't heard my horn blowing. I blow my horn in support of many parades, pickets marches ect.
...shortly before midnight...
Blowing one's horn,even in the middle of the day, can be very annoying.The Claremont is in a residential neighborhood.I hope the ticket sticks.Is this woman actually claiming that the signs on the side of the road made her do it?
Isn't that the 35th amendment "Freedom from being offended, especially by honking horns on public streets?"
I support the noise ordinance as I live in a residential area and have no use for ignorant behavior no matter what someone's reasons.
The picketers encouraged honking in order to be obstinate to the hotel management and people staying there.
This is a union thuggery ploy that got a citizen in trouble with the law who must now be held accountable for her actions of disturbing the peace.
She got a divorce a few years ago and hasn't had a man since. Now she's just plain horny.
I also live in a residential area. I hear lawn mowers, weed eater, cars thumping, stereos rocking, horns blowing, kids yelling, laughing, playing, airplanes flying overhead, a train that comes thru at least 4x daily and the occasional car that's lost a muffler. Then there's the dogs barking and crickets or kadydids. It's all good, our lives are full of noises that we are going to miss if we regulate everything to death.
In 40 years of driving, I've probably only used my horn five times, for accident prevention purposes.
at midnite? I would think that a noise ordinance could be sited at that hour, but if truly honking your horn is a law breaking offense then the police have the right to arrest the protesters that are encouraging people to break the law with signs, right?
Free speach doesn't let me yell "fire" in a theatre, then free speach should not allow me to encourage people to break the law .... separate issue than whether this should be a law or not in Berkely but that's a messed up town anyway.
Nobody prevented her from honking her horn. The BPD simply cited her in accordance with state law. Would you prefer that the Berkely police not uphold the law?
When inimical to 1st Amendment, no.
The Claremont Hotel is surrounded by private homes. The people who live in those homes have every right to expect a reasonable amount of peace and quiet. While your defense of yahoos expressing their "1st Amendment rights" by leaning on their horns is laudable, don't others have rights too? And don't local governments have the right to pass state laws and ordinances to keep their jurisdictions livable -- such as noise ordinances and statutes? What if I decide to "express my 1st Amendment rights" by standing outside your home and screeching my opinions every day at the top of my lungs? Is that ok with you? And what if my 40 friends decide to join me in this celebration of free speech? Is that ok too?
The citation was not for a nuisance law. If the government failed to bring a nuisance citation, it should not be treated as a nuisance citation.
I've got to dispute that. The reason California put the restriction in vehicle code was to abate public nuisance. A car horn puts out about as many decibels as a rock concert, roughly 110. When it's used casually by bozos like this woman, it's most definitely a nuisance to nearby residents.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
There is no reference in the law to nuisance -- it would purportedly apply if you beeped out in the middle of an empty interstate with nothing but cornfields in sight.
Right. The state legislature wanted to protect empty cornfields from noise. Got it.
Until there is a court finding that this is about nuisance, all this legislative speculation doesn't matter.
By the way, why would it be acceptable to "express one's rights" with a car horn in a residential neighborhood but not acceptable to express those rights in a remote rural setting?
Tell it to the judge
But didn't you just say the nuisance factor would kick in if you hit the horn out on a deserted highway in the middle of cornfields?
Have you seen this?:
http://freedomkeys.com/busybodies.htm
Thanks, it's a shame that there are far too many busybodies right here on FR where you wouldn't think you'd find them.
And it's pretty much always the same ones.
I'm with you generally, but here is the relevant part of the article--the honking was "shortly before midnight."
Claiming honking at midnight is political speech is akin to claiming breaking into houses and stealing TVs is rage against the machine. Makes for a nice soundbite but it's complete and utter b.s. You can protest at a time when you're not completely disturbing the peace. Most people are asleep at midnight.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.