[Vision2020] Noise Ordinance Amendment Update

[Sunil Ramalingam]

Yeah, Garrett, if that's your real name, when did you stop defecating on 
your neighbor's lawn, banging your head to Sabbath?

Sunil


>From: J Ford <privatejf32 at hotmail.com>
>To: Garrett Clevenger <garrettmc at verizon.net>, <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Noise Ordinance Amendment Update
>Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:38:18 -0700
>
>
>Mr, Clevenger -whomever you may be:
>
>You state:
>
>"Duke's analogy was police ticketing drivers if they break the law.
>Driving is not a guaranteed constitutional right.  You need to get a
>drivers license in order to legally drive.  There are set rules and
>speed limits you must follow and there is a potential for physically
>hurting or killing someone if you are reckless.
>
>Free
>speech and the right to assembly, on the other hand, are guaranteed by
>the First Amendment to our Constitution.  This is a civil liberty that
>as Americans we should be proud of and defend against those who wish to
>limit it."
>
>My response:
>
>B U N K!
>
>Blasting your music at 3am, fighting on the streets at the same hour, 
>ripping your car through neighborhoods at the same hour, peeing and 
>defecating on neighbor's property, "partying" are NOT - that's NOT!!!!! - 
>guaranteed rights.  These "parties" and attendees are NOT practicing "free 
>speech" (last I heard "Prince" and "Black Sabbath" do not live in Moscow) 
>by blasting the so-called-music and waking everyone up in the area.  Being 
>at a "party" is not assembly; it is what it is - a PARTY!  Those people are 
>not gathered there for any political or social-affecting reason - they are 
>there to get drunk, be loud, and they do a bang-up job of disturbing the 
>entire area.
>
>It MAY be only 17% of the population that is doing this "partying" - but it 
>affects a whole lot more than 17% of the population when they are this 
>disruptive and unruly.
>
>
>
>J  :]
>
>
>Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:32:11 -0700
>From: garrettmc at verizon.net
>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: [Vision2020] Noise Ordinance Amendment Update
>
>I attended the administrative meeting last Monday to talk with some city 
>council members, the city attorney and assistant chief of police David Duke 
>about the proposal.
>
>The city council will be voting on this on November 5 at 7pm at city 
>council chambers.
>
>The noise ordinance as amended will allow police officers to issue a 
>citation on the spot to anyone anywhere in Moscow at anytime for making 
>noise the officer deems offensive.  There is no set noise limit.  This 
>potentially will lead to violation of our First Amendment rights.
>
>According to the police department, 17% of noise violations are repeat 
>offenders (party houses), the supposed target of this amendment.  It is 
>offensive that this council will violate our First Amendment rights to 
>target these 17%.  Why should everybody in Moscow be subject to this 
>draconian law?
>
>If they really wanted to target these 17%, the modification would expand 
>the 48 hour time period between
>  warnings to one month and be within the times of 10 pm to 7am.  To me, 
>that seems like the most logical and at least worth a try to see if it 
>works, rather than changing the law so extremely.  It will also reduce the 
>likelihood of a lawsuit and penalty against the city if the court finds it 
>unconstitutional.
>
>The proposal before the city council is not responsible legislation.
>
>It is also counter intuitive to building community through neighborly 
>relations.  To rely on the police to solve an issue that is best resolved 
>through citizens rather than law enforcement will lead to the dissolution 
>of community responsibility.  The police should approach noisy people after 
>neighbor complaints, rather than proactively seeking out these noisy 
>people.  That would be a waste of their time.
>
>Duke's analogy was police ticketing drivers if they break the law.  Driving 
>is not a guaranteed constitutional right.  You need to get a
>  drivers license in order to legally drive.  There are set rules and speed 
>limits you must follow and there is a potential for physically hurting or 
>killing someone if you are reckless.
>
>Free speech and the right to assembly, on the other hand, are guaranteed by 
>the First Amendment to our Constitution.  This is a civil liberty that as 
>Americans we should be proud of and defend against those who wish to limit 
>it.
>
>They also argued that you can fight this charge in court.  That is also 
>bogus, because by that time you have already paid a penalty of time, hassle 
>and potentially fees.
>
>This is a bad law and will potentially be abused.  It also psychologically 
>suppresses people's freedom of expression by fearing they will be ticketed 
>for a misdemeanor, which is also an extreme charge and penalty (ranging 
>from $159 to $359) for making a little bit of noise.
>
>This law, the way I see it, is another attempt to water down our rights.
>  The Bush administration has seen fit to violate our 4th Amendment rights 
>of unreasonable search and seizure through warrantless wiretaps, among 
>other things.
>
>The city council needs to hear from you.  Please take a moment to tell them 
>to reject the amendment or to modify it to expand the time between warnings 
>to one month, between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am (and complaints should be 
>citizen driven, not police driven) rather than voting on it as is.
>
>Aaron Ament  aaronament at moscow.com
>Bill Lambert  blambert at ci.moscow.id.us
>Linda Pall  lpall at moscow.com;
>John Weber  jweber at moscow.com
>Tom Lamar  tlamar at moscow.com
>Kit Crane  kcraine at moscow.id.usMayor Nancy Chaney  nchaney at ci.moscow.id.us
>
>Thank you,
>
>Garrett Clevenger
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Climb to the top of the charts!  Play Star Shuffle:  the word scramble 
>challenge with star power.
>http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_oct


>=======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>=======================================================