The Los Angeles City Council has approved a new rule prohibiting public speakers from using the N-word and C-word, including any variations, during council and committee meetings.
The measure aims to reduce disruption and maintain a respectful environment during public comment, coming in response to ongoing concerns about offensive language disrupting public proceedings.
If a speaker uses either word or its variations, the presiding officer or City Attorney will issue a warning.
A second offense, whether during the same meeting or a future one, will result in the speaker being cut off and their remaining speaking time forfeited.
Repeat offenders could also be removed or excluded from meetings under existing disruption rules.
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson told the Los Angeles Times that the repeated use of certain slurs during public comment has made some individuals reluctant to attend meetings.
“It is language that, anywhere outside this building where there aren’t four armed guards, would get you hurt if you said these things in public,” he told the publication.
Legal scholars have noted that the new rule could be challenged in court for violating a speaker’s First Amendment rights.
In 2014, the city awarded $215,000 to a Black man who was removed from a meeting after wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and a T-shirt displaying the N-word.
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