People sound their car horns every day to express themselves. It’s common, part of the American tradition — and it’s also a type of expression protected by the First Amendment. But in California, expressive horn use is against the law under the state’s motor vehicle code.
David Loy, FAC’s Legal Director, brought a challenge to this law in 2018 while he was at the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties. The case is on behalf of Susan Porter, a San Diego-area woman who was cited in 2017 for beeping her horn in solidarity with protesters at a political demonstration. While the citation was dismissed when the officer who issued it failed to show in court, Porter argued her speech has been chilled by the threat of continued enforcement.
Unfortunately, both the district court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the government. In her dissent, Ninth Circuit Judge Marsha Berzon noted that the majority’s ruling upheld “a ban on a popular form of political expressive conduct” without any evidence that “political expressive horn use jeopardizes traffic safety or frustrates noise control.”
In November 2023, FAC asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
On February 26, 2024, the court announced it would not hear the case.
Press Releases:
- Ninth Circuit Refuses to Rehear Honking-as-Speech Case (5/23/2023)
- FAC Seeks Review of Ninth Circuit Decision that Upholds Law that Prohibits Car Honking at Protests (4/21/2023)
- FAC Urges Ninth Circuit to Protect Right to Honk Car Horns at Protests (7/15/2021)
Legal Documents:
- Petition for Writ of Certiorari (10/19/2023)
- Petition for Rehearing En Banc (4/21/2023)
- Ninth Circuit decision (4/7/2023)
- FAC Amicus Brief to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (7/13/2021)
- Appellant’s Opening Brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (7/6/2021)
- Complaint (6/11/2018)
More:
- Q&A: FAC Legal Director David Loy on the right to honk your horn as a form of expression (2/16/2022)
Select News Coverage:
- USA Today: She got a ticket for beeping her car horn. Now she’s asking the Supreme Court to sound off. (11/17/2023)
- San Diego Union-Tribune: Oceanside woman ticketed at Issa protest asks Supreme Court to decide if horn-honking is protected speech (10/31/2023)
- CNN: Is honking your horn a First Amendment right? (4/15/2023)
- Washington Post: She said honking her horn at a protest was free speech. Judges disagreed. (4/11/2023)
One Comment
People have been honking their horn for everything but it’s intended purpose, yet all they have to do is claim that they are exercising their right to express themselves at 1 AM & will continue regardless of any Supreme Court decision.
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