Dee Wampler to Springfield City Council: 'You're messing with religious speech'

The city of Springfield said new rules proposed to regulate use of noise amplification devices will not put limits on what people say, only how loud they say it.

A lawyer, who represents a street preacher who was arrested after delivering loud sermons downtown, said he believes the proposal is targeting his client.

"You're messing with religious speech," said attorney Dee Wampler, who waved clenched fists as he addressed council members Monday night. "You got to be really careful when the government starts trying to regulate a church or free speech."

Under proposed amendments to a law that governs noise and peace disturbances, people would not be allowed to use an amplification system to transmit sounds in the following circumstances:

• The volume "unreasonably disturbs or alarms" other people within residential, business or commercial buildings
• The volume "unreasonably disturb(s) or interfere(s)" with other activities or patrons of activities that have received a permit from the city 
• The sound is "plainly audible" 50 feet or more from the speakers, between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The proposal will likely be voted on at the next council meeting on Jan. 9.

City attorney Amanda Callaway, who presented the bill to council, emphasized Monday night that the amplified sound restrictions are "content neutral."

"This is content neutral because it's not based on any message of speech, instead it is based on volume," Callaway said.

Callaway said the city has interest in protecting its citizens from "unwelcome noise, even on city streets and city parks."

Wampler said he wants council to eliminate or table a portion of the rules governing sound amplification.

Wampler told the News-Leader he believes the guidelines for volume are too subjective, opening up the possibility that people can use the law to report any speech that "alarms" them — based on content rather than noise level.

"Who's to say what's plainly audible fifty feet away? What does plainly audible mean? What about alarmed?" Wampler said.

Wampler also took issue that the proposed language doesn't include the word "knowingly," thereby creating a crime without requirement of intent.

In 2013, the city butted heads with one of Wampler's clients, street preacher Aaron Brummitt, over his use of sound amplifying equipment in public spaces after a resident complained his peace was disturbed by Brummitt's sermons. Brummit was charged with multiple municipal ordinance violations.

In 2014, Brummitt and the city reached an agreement that will see his charges deferred while limiting the times and manner of his street sermons.

Wampler said Monday that Brummitt has abided by the agreement and no one has complained about his preaching since. However, Springfield Police Department spokeswoman Lisa Cox said police have received multiple complaints about Brummitt since the deal was made.

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Citizens filed complaints on at least six separate days in 2015 and 2016 against Brummitt, according to Cox.

Wampler said there have been no summons issued.

Wampler told the News-Leader he spoke during the council meeting Monday because he believed Brummit would be affected by the proposed law change, and also to voice his concerns about the proposal's implications for First Amendment rights.

"It can affect anybody, it's not just religious speech," Wampler said.

Amplified sound regulations make up a small section of the amended ordinance. Most changes are aimed at making the noise law less confusing for residents as well as police and prosecutors.

Councilwoman Kristi Fulnecky, who was represented by Wampler in previous conflicts with other council members, asked why council was looking at the proposal, when the city already has a peace disturbance ordinance.

Callaway, the assistant city attorney, answered: "We don't have anything that deals with amplifications specifically, and our noise ordinance is outdated and it has been put together over many years. We had some sections that were duplicating other sections. This was an effort to clean all that up."

Mayor Bob Stephens added that it's part of an ongoing effort by the city to review laws and clean up language "that might be archaic or older."

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