BOISE, Idaho — City leaders will decide Tuesday whether to amend a controversial noise ordinance that has been used to ticket and arrest protesters using megaphones during demonstrations.
The Boise City Council is scheduled to vote on the amendment during its regular meeting as part of a settlement agreement with the Sierra Club, which filed a lawsuit against the city last year claiming the ordinance violated First Amendment rights.
If approved, the amendment would remove restrictions on megaphone use during protests and resolve the federal lawsuit. If rejected, litigation will continue.
The lawsuit, filed a year ago, "asserted that the City's noise ordinance violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." The Sierra Club says that local police have been using the current ordinance to take enforcement action against demonstrators.
The council will vote during its regular weekly meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Boise City Hall. The meeting will also be streamed on the city's YouTube channel.
