A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked enforcement of a Department of Homeland Security order prohibiting “unusual noise” near a government building in Eugene, Oregon.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, ruled that this restriction, which bars “creating a loud or unusual noise, noxious odor, or other nuisance” on “Federal property or in areas outside Federal property that affects, threatens, or endangers Federal property or persons on Federal property,” is likely a violation of the First Amendment and granted a preliminary injunction against the policy.
The regulation was set to take effect at the start of next year, but DHS officials moved up its effective date.
The plaintiffs are Chloe Longworth and Anna Lardner, a pair of activists who stage weekly protests on city sidewalks outside a federal building in Eugene. Both were arrested for using megaphones.
“Here, not only have Plaintiffs been arrested or threatened with arrest for using a megaphone in a traditional public forum, but Longworth was threatened with arrest for ‘yelling,’” wrote Aiken. “This speaks to another reason for the impermissibility of vague or overbroad enactments: those enactments create the ‘danger of arbitrary and discriminatory application’ … Here, Plaintiffs are regular protestors who believe they were targeted by government agents for their speech. Whether or not they in fact were targeted, the danger of discriminatory application exists.”
This follows a long string of legal challenges to Trump DHS policies around the country, including allegations that officials used excessive force on protesters in Chicago, and a Trump-appointed judge ruling he cannot deploy the National Guard to chill protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon.
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