Michigan Muslim decision

[Steven Jamar]

let's use technology to solve the problem - have pagers go off instead 
of church bells and shouted calls to prayer.

:)

Steve

On Friday, May 14, 2004, at 10:51  AM, Douglas Laycock wrote:

>         The old ordinance apparently prohibited "any excessive, 
> unnecessary or unusually loud noise, or any noise which either annoys 
> or disturbs."   Easy to see why the imam thought he wasn't violating 
> that, and why sensitive neighbors thought he was.  This is hardly a 
> neutral ordinance; it is reminiscent of the ordinance struck down in 
> Coates v. Cincinnati, which made it illegal to conduct yourself in a 
> manner annoying to persons passing by.  Most of the annoyance being 
> expressed seems to flow more from the content  than from the noise. 
>
>         We don't know how loud this is, or how far it can be heard, or 
> how early in the morning.  Maybe it is such a problem that it would 
> have been regulated independently of its content.  But my hunch is 
> that if that were so, the City Council would not have amended the 
> ordinance to expressly permit it. 
>
>         The underlying legal issue is how strong an interest is 
> required to justify suppressing speech or a religious practice.  I 
> assume that under Kovacs v. Cooper they could ban all loudspeakers.  
> But they may not want to live with the consequences of that.  It may 
> shut down events they would like to permit.  I don't think they can 
> ban only those loudspeakers that someone finds annoying.
>
>
>
>
>
> Douglas Laycock
> University of Texas Law School
> 727 E. Dean Keeton St.
> Austin, TX  78705
>         512-232-1341 (voice)
>         512-471-6988 (fax)
>         dlaycock at mail.law.utexas.edu
>
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-- 
Prof. Steven D. Jamar                               vox:  202-806-8017
Howard University School of Law                     fax:  202-806-8567
2900 Van Ness Street NW                   mailto:sjamar at law.howard.edu
Washington, DC  20008   http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar/

"Love the pitcher less and the water more."

Sufi Saying
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