Saturday, June 26, 1999
Court upholds Cincinnati noise law
Judges reject claim of unconstitutionality
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
An appeals court upheld Cincinnati's noise ordinance Friday, concluding it is a reasonable law that does not unfairly target African-Americans.
The law was passed by City Council two years ago despite claims by some that it was an unconstitutional attempt to curb weekend gatherings of young people in Eden Park.
Because those gatherings primarily involve African-Americans, oppo nents argued the law was aimed at them.
Cincinnati attorney Kenneth Lawson raised the issue after police cited three black men in Eden Park during the summer of 1997.
The Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals reviewed the cases and determined Friday that the law was fair and police did nothing wrong when they cited the men for violating it.
Mr. Lawson, who vowed to appeal the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, contends a disproportionate number of blacks have been charged with violating the ordinance.
In his argument to the appeals court, he submitted a review of city records that showed 79 percent of those cited under the law were black.
But in a 3-0 decision, the judges concluded those statistics are not sufficient to prove the law is unconstitutional.
The judges also rejected Mr. Lawson's claim that the law was vague and resulted in arbitrary enforcement by police.
Mr. Lawson had argued that the law was too subjective because it referred to “unreasonable noise” that causes “inconvenience or annoyance to persons of ordinary sensibilities.”
“Such terms are not beyond the grasp of the average person,” the judges wrote. “We hold that this standard is sufficiently definite so as to prohibit arbitrary enforcement.”
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