Ward v. Rock Against Racism

E666863

Ward v. Rock Against Racism is a landmark 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld government regulation of the time, place, and manner of speech in public forums, particularly regarding sound amplification at public events.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case
landmark First Amendment case
areaOfLaw First Amendment law
constitutional law
freedom of expression
citation 491 U.S. 781
concurrenceBy Harry A. Blackmun
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted First Amendment to the United States Constitution
country United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 1989-06-22
dissentBy Thurgood Marshall
William J. Brennan Jr.
dissentJoiner John Paul Stevens
docketNumber 88-600
fullCaseName Ward, Commissioner of Parks and Recreation of the City of New York, et al. v. Rock Against Racism et al.
governmentInterest controlling excessive noise levels
ensuring sound quality at concerts
protecting nearby residents from noise
holding Content-neutral time, place, and manner regulations are valid if they are narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest and leave open ample alternative channels for communication of the information.
New York City’s sound-amplification guidelines for Central Park concerts did not violate the First Amendment.
jurisdiction United States
legalIssue First Amendment freedom of speech
content-neutral regulation of speech
public forum doctrine
time, place, and manner restrictions
locationOfEvents Central Park, New York City
majorityJoiner Antonin Scalia
Byron R. White
John Paul Stevens
Sandra Day O’Connor
William H. Rehnquist
majorityOpinionBy Anthony M. Kennedy
pageInUnitedStatesReports 781
petitioner New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
precedentStatus binding precedent in U.S. federal courts
publicForumType traditional public forum
regulatingAuthority City of New York
linked to: New York City
regulationSubject sound amplification at public concerts
regulationType time, place, and manner restriction
respondent Rock Against Racism
ruleAnnounced Narrow tailoring does not require the least restrictive or least intrusive means of serving the government’s interest for content-neutral time, place, and manner regulations.
speechContext music concerts in a public park
standardApplied intermediate scrutiny
subsequentCitationAsPrecedentFor content-neutral speech regulations
government regulation of sound amplification
volumeInUnitedStatesReports 491
yearDecided 1989

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Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence relatedCase Ward v. Rock Against Racism
Ward v. Rock Against Racism fullCaseName Ward, Commissioner of Parks and Recreation of the City of New York, et al. v. Rock Against Racism et al.
linked to: Ward v. Rock Against Racism