ACLU Demands Repeal of Unconstitutional Ordinance
The City of Anthony, KS, is set to host the Muddy Water Music Festival this weekend. In the run up to approving the permits for the Festival, the City Commission got a bee in its bonnet about dirty words used by bands that perform at the Festival. So, at the City Commission’s regular meeting on May 6, 2013, the Commissioners approved a motion that, among other things, made granting the permit for the Festival contingent on “the artists play[ing] with reserved language in regards to foul words.”
By adopting that motion, the Commission established an unconstitutional condition for the grant of the permit and thus violated the First Amendment’s Speech Clause. The Commission’s act proves the wisdom of the Supreme Court’s observation that “the risks of freewheeling censorship are formidable.” Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U.S. 546, 559 (1975).
Because of the clear unconstitutionality of the City’s action and of its ordinance purporting to outlaw “the use of profane or indecent language” where beer is sold, the ACLU today sent the a letter to the City Administrator demanding that the City repeal the unconstitutional ordinance and assure the Festival’s sponsors and the holder of the CMB license that the City will not enforce the ordinance or the unconstitutional condition set by the Commission in granting the permit for the Festival.
Letter to Anthony, KS
News Coverage
"ACLU asks town to repeal profane language law", KWCH 12 Eyewitness News, Wichita, KS, 6/12/2013