- Target:
- Mayor Vincent Gray, the Council of The District of Columbia, Attorney General Nathan
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- dcstudentsspeak.org
“Disorderly Conduct Amendment Act of 2010” is a law that is vague, and will detrimentally impact students and for that matter all of the residents of DC.
The amendment, which went into affect at 12:01am on February 1st, reads in part:
"It is unlawful for a person to make an unreasonably loud noise between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. that is likely to annoy or disturb one or more other persons in their residences".
The penalty for violation of this ‘law’? 90 days in jail and/or a $500 fine. Who can we expect it to be primarily enforced against? Students. This law is bad, bad public policy that individuals throughout the city need to stand up against.
The problems with the law should be obvious to all. A garbage collector doing their job, a baby crying at night, and an early-bird talking on their cellphone as they retrieve the morning paper all appear to be at risk of receiving 90 days in jail. One can use the word appear because there is no stronger word to use: the law is so vague about what is problematic there is no way to say anything else. How is one supposed to distinguish ‘unreasonably loud noise’ from ‘reasonably loud noise’?
The residents of DC must stand up and voice their opposition to the Act. We are pushing for an immediate injunction, and we encourage you to stand up for your rights and support our efforts.
We, the undersigned, strongly support the repeal of the “Disorderly Conduct Amendment Act of 2010".
We encourage Mayor Vincent Gray, the Council of The District of Columbia, and Attorney General Irvin Nathan to support the repeal of the Act.
The fundamental rights of the residents of DC should not be infringed upon for the negligible and vague offense of potentially annoying someone.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Oppose The New Unjust DC Noise Ordinance petition to Mayor Vincent Gray, the Council of The District of Columbia, Attorney General Nathan was written by DC Students Speak and is in the category Civil Rights at GoPetition.