Free Speech or a Nuisance?

(CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO) People young and old are easily within earshot of unamplified speech as they walk past the noisemaking group on the afternoon of Nov. 19. The amplifier was present, but was not used by the group that day. (Copyright © 2005. David Klavitter)

This photo brings up an interesting discussion, usually by attorneys when they hear about our saga. I remind them that our neighborhood's issue simply is with the loud and lengthy noise.

I recounted to an attorney friend of mine the D.C. Office of Attorney General (OAG) opinion concerning the issue of amplied speech.

My friend, Eric, thought it was interesting that the OAG legal opinion doesn't even address how the D.C. statute interacts with either common law or statutory law on nuisance. Eric said he had a hard time belieivng that there is NO limit on how loud something can be.

"At some point, there is a health and safety issue," he added.