The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a California law outlawing honking your car horn for anything other than warning of danger. A woman honked her horn 14 times to support a protest at Representative Darrell Issa’s offices and after she was cited filed a lawsuit claiming the citation violated her free speech rights. FAC’s David Loy said the California Highway Patrol failed to present facts showing the dangers of unauthorized horn honking. Loy said the ruling “upholds censorship by speculation.” (The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 20, 2023, by Greg Moran)
The horn honker Susan Porter argued that the law violated the First Amendment since the California law is content-based and not narrowly tailed to address a compelling government interest. In a 2-1 ruling the court said the law draws a line based on facts, rather than on content, so is content-neutral. (ABA Journal, April 11, 2023, by Debra Cassens Weiss)