Police state? Anti-war car horn honking will get you ticketed

When I first heard about this I was kinda surprised. Honking your horn will get you a ticket with a hefty fine attached
Car honking goes on all the time in Michigan. Weddings, graduations, union picket lines all have accompanying horns tooting. None fit the profile of horn honking only for necessary situations.
Anti-war protesters see this as a violation of the First Amendment Right of Free Speech. Police and local residents say it's a nuisance and disorderly conduct.

People have been assembling most Monday evenings since December, 2002 at the intersection of Nine Mile and Woodward in Ferndale, Michigan to voice their opposition to the Iraq War.
At first they got a more middle fingers than thumbs up. As the war has continued, the response to the protesters has gotten more and more favorable.

I see this as a possible further attempt to erode our Constitutional Rights and another step closer to a Police State.

While I personally do not believe in anti-war protest, I am concerned at the way police respond to many, many situations since 9/11. One article mentions that the noise has grown a lot. I am familiar with the area and there are no homes in the immediate vicinity of the intersection. It is the business district for the City of Ferndale.



Sources used:
DEMONSTRATION AT HOME: Antiwar protesters' battle shifts:
As driver support grows, cops pose new problems
Protest-supporting car honker to fight fine in court


[edit on 25-8-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

I don't really have anything constructive to add that hasn't been said. It is a silly thing, but it really is an erosion of our rights. Now we aren't allowed to honk horns? I dunno if this is a stepping stone to a police state, but it is definatly yet another stupid rule/law I refuse to follow. I would rather pay an attorney to beat the rap than spend my money on a ticket for that.

one thing i'll add about this.

The second a politician finds an issue that a small minority of citizens passionately defend, the politician goes into 'validate my job' mode. He exercises all these impressive tactics to win the hearts of a few people keeping him occupied.
Unfortunately, this could backfire. And I hope it does. And that is how we get rid of idiot politicians who pick these non-issues and turn them into law.

Technically, in Michigan (and, probably most other legal jurisdictions), one is not supposed to honk their horn except to alert others to prevent an accident.

Whether or not the honking is at a wedding, high school event or a U of M vs Michigan State football game, honkers can be ticketed. However, more often than not, police leave such revelers alone.

To enforce 'honking' regulations when the honking is performed as a function of civic protest and free speech is certainly an erosion of some aspect of our 'rights". To be honest, I have done more than my share of honking growing up in Michigan; I've honked in support of my high school, my hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings, my basketball team, the Pistons and, well, the list can go on. But I have never been ticketed nor have I ever seen anyone else ticketed, much less warned. Curious.

I have been saying this for some time now that all these little snippets in the US/UK are an errosion of our rights, Its like in London, its now illegal to protest within 1k of the Houses of Parliament. Our countries are supposed to be democracies, a model for others but we are on the road to a police state and I think the USA is not far behind us. If this is the case what are we the people going to do about it.

Bah! Yes, another erosion of our rights. What about people honking if they love Jesus? Or the old standard, "Honk if you're Horny"? Will the jail cells soon be full of horny people and Jesus-lovers? :shk:

I've been meaning to try to update this story and was waiting for the dourt date.
Well, charges were dropped. The protesters who were ticketed agreed to quite honking their horns.
A rather anticlimatic ending.

www.woodtv.com...

Under a settlement with the city, signs confiscated by police will be returned to the protesters, and they agreed not to file a lawsuit against Ferndale, whose City Council has passed resolutions opposing the Iraq War.

~~~~~

"I'm happy with this outcome," she said. "We can't urge people to honk for now, but we'll challenge the constitutionality of the no-honking law in federal court with the American Civil Liberties Union."

I once worked as a contractor at a military base for a day. At the end of the day, the exit to the base is a crowded traffic jam. I was going through the exit, where a guy held up a sign saying "Honk if you support the war." Needless to say the traffic jam coupled with all the honking was a confusing and potentially dangerous situation, yet I doubt that man's protest was silenced.

Honking your car horn is the most perfect free speech analogy to yelling fire in a theater that I've ever seen. You can't do it, don't do it, stop crying, go doing something else.

I see why they're upset. I imagine it went something like this.

Cop: OK, this is not an admission of guilt, just a promise to appear on the date there at the bottom above your signiture. have a nice day and stay off your horn.

Protestor: Why do the Union guys get to do it at pickets then?

Other Protestor: I don't know but without our car horns we're sunk. This war could go on forever. Nobody honked at Vietnam and look what happened. We've gotta keep honking.

Cop: This here is a .44 magnum, and will blow your hood clean off, so you better ask yourself, how much does a replacement horn cost. Do ya know, punk?

So yeah, as you can see from my eye witness account there, the cops are not enforcing the law in a uniform fashion and its a little dirty (harry) maybe, but the protestors must be nuts to think it's a big deal. Who needs a car horn when you've got MILLION OF PEOPLE ON YOUR SIDE? I think the crowds could raise a much higher decibal level.

Actually I grew up in PR and honking was part of life . . . so I can not shake the nasty habit of honking when somebody just make me mad on the road. Plus I love showing my ring finger also.

So far . . . I have not been given a warning yet. or have been shot at.

Sorry!!!!!!!!! I promise that is the only bad habit on the road I have.

Originally posted by The Vagabond
Honking your car horn is the most perfect free speech analogy to yelling fire in a theater that I've ever seen. You can't do it, don't do it, stop crying, go doing something else.

I think the issue here is not the ban on horn honking but the way the ban is enforced. There is no freedom of speech issue if anyone who honks a horn inappropriately gets prosecuted. If only protesters are prosecuted, then we have a different story. Imagine if only conservatives who yelled fire in a theater were cited, but liberals were allowed to yell fire at will. This would certainly be a free speech issue.

Actualy I would love to see someone prosicuted for this. I could just imagine the judge in the courtroom

Bailif: Next up The people vs Honky McHonkerson

Judge: Mr. McHonkerson you have been charged with disorderly conduct via improper automobile horn usage... Why the hell is this in my courtroom? If I see annother one of these Male Bovine Fecal Matter cases handed to me I am going to fine the police for wasting the cour'ts valuable time. Your free to go Mr. McHonkerson CASE DISMISSED!

Sorry I doubt that anyone would actualy get any sort of fine if they so chose to fight this law.

well, as any cop will tell you, driving is not a right, it's a privilege. if you abuse that privilege, you will lose it.....which is why i dont believe that honking your horn in protest has anything to do with the 1st amendment. yes, it is pretty damn cheesy for someone to write you a ticket for honking your horn, but he or she is not trampeling on your rights by doing so.

Originally posted by snafu7700
well, as any cop will tell you, driving is not a right, it's a privilege. if you abuse that privilege, you will lose it

Unless you are using the vehicle as a means of peaceful protest. One could even argue that an unlicensed person in a un registered vehicle could legally drive to that spot in order to honk the car horn, seeing as the right to protest is protected by the Constitution and therefore trumps all state driving laws.

If I lived in that area I would see how many people I could get to stand on the street corner with auto horns rigged up to batteries, or air horns. So sorry, but the right to let your government and other people know that you don’t support your society traveling thousands of miles to kill members of another society supersedes anyone’s “right” to sit at Applebee’s and stuff their faces in silence as if their government weren’t slaughtering people that didn’t have enough to eat.

Here in the UK we have all these daft incidents and changes to the law and it all seems like big brother but I often say to people the police cannot cope with real crime never mind all this petty minor stuff. They can make all the laws they like but if they cannot police them effectively there's not much point in making the law in the first place.