Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: TUE 09/30/2003
Section: A
Page: 13MetFront
Edition: 3 STAR
 

Hush-hush parks rule loudly rescinded / But free-speech debate may get even noisier

By MATT SCHWARTZ
Staff

CORRECTION: A photo caption that accompanied this story misidentified Houston activist Ray Hill as Ray Hall. Correction published 10/1/03.

Musicians can play their songs in Houston's parks and protesters can rage against any injustice they choose - so long as they keep their voices down, under a quietly enforced policy that was noisily squelched Monday.

City parks officials rescinded the month-old policy amid criticism from a civil rights lawyer and a local protest group, which had discovered that its planned demonstration would be muted by the rule's ban on bullhorns or other loudspeakers.

The replacement policy may draw an even stronger protest, however, over concerns that it would let city officials decide which groups should be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights to free speech.

"It doesn't seem like this problem has been cured even in the slightest yet," said Randall Kallinen, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Kallinen and the October 22nd Coalition objected recently after the coalition obtained a permit to use downtown's Market Square Park as a staging area for a march to Houston police headquarters on Oct. 22.

The anti-police brutality organization discovered, however, that its city permit forbade the use of "amplified sound" in the park. The prohibition, quietly put in place last month, applied to all but three of the city's 308 parks. Memorial, Cullen and Herman Brown parks were exempted.

The Department of Parks and Recreation lifted the ban Monday after receiving a letter from Kallinen calling the policy a violation of free-speech rights.

The department will ask the City Attorney's Office for guidance in crafting a policy balancing First Amendment rights with neighborhoods' noise concerns, said parks spokeswoman Marene Gustin.

Until then, Gustin said, the department will grant special-event permits on a case-by-case basis and may even consider not issuing permits until the legal issues are clarified.

"That's worse," said Kallinen, arguing that such a policy could allow city officials to silence groups with whom they disagree.

Kallinen got involved after the organizer of the planned Oct. 22 march discovered the sound ban. He called the policy a "severe restriction" on free-speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

"To do any sort of protest to any group (of listeners), you need amplified sound, flat out," he said. "You cannot speak out against any policy the city has, or the country has or the state has, without amplified sound."

Kallinen said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that such restrictions must be reasonably based on the time, place and manner of such protests or other activities.

The city noise ordinance sets decibel limits for day and night events. The ordinance allows noise levels to exceed the limits, however, if the noise is generated by activities in a public park.

"It does hurt our rally," Diane Bossom of the October 22nd Coalition said of the policy before the Parks Department agreed to let the group use microphones. "We've never had an incident in the years we've done this (demonstration). It's very hard to get your speakers out there if you have no sound system for people to hear your speakers speak. We make sure we do not exceed the decibel level. It's a very peaceable protest."

Gustin said the withdrawn policy was the work of mid-level managers in the permit office, who were attempting to resolve noise complaints from some neighborhoods whose parks have been used for loud parties.

"This was simply a case of people trying to solve a problem that's been very destructive to the parks and the neighbors," she said.

Kallinen said a permit office employee told him that the ban was ordered by Parks Director Roksan Okan-Vick.

Gustin denied that, insisting it had resulted from an internal memorandum in the permit office.

"Roksan never signed anything," Gustin said. "But now that she's looking at the whole issue, obviously recognizing that we have had some serious problems with raves in these parks . . . we need to try to do something. But we certainly don't intend to go to the other extreme."

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A BAN ON BULLHORNS, LOUDSPEAKERS

The park prohibition applied to all but three of the city's 308 parks: Memorial, Cullen and Herman Brown.

The parks department will seek guidance in crafting a new policy balancing First Amendment rights with neighborhoods' noise concerns.

Until then, the department will grant special-event permits on a case-by-case basis.