Marcavage v. City of New York

918 F. Supp. 2d 266, 2013 WL 246125, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9142
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 23, 2013
DocketNo. 11 Civ. 9482(LTS)(JLC)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 918 F. Supp. 2d 266 (Marcavage v. City of New York) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marcavage v. City of New York, 918 F. Supp. 2d 266, 2013 WL 246125, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9142 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

Opinion and Order

SWAIN, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Michael Marcavage, Repent America, an unincorporated association by and through its Director, Michael Marcavage, Shawn Holes and Don Earns (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) bring this action, asserting claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for violations of their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and under Article I, §§ 3, 8, and 9 of the [268]*268Constitution of New York State. Plaintiffs allege that the City of New York (the “City”), Police Officer Jason Harper (“P.O. Harper”) and Police Captain David Ehrenberg (“Captain Ehrenberg” and collectively, “Defendants”)1 violated the Plaintiffs’ rights to “free speech and free exercise activities” when Plaintiffs, who were preaching on a public street in New York City, were instructed to cease using a sound amplification device because they were not in compliance with a New York City law that requires a license to use such a device and restricts the times and places in which such devices can be used. Plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief preventing Defendants from enforcing New York City Administrative Code (“Admin. Code”) § 10-108, which is titled, “Regulation of Sound Devices or Apparatus” (hereinafter “Sound Amplification Devices Code” or “Code”).

The Court has jurisdiction of Plaintiffs’ federal claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343, and supplemental jurisdiction of their state law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367. Currently pending before the Court are three interrelated motions. Plaintiffs move for a preliminary injunction enjoining the City’s enforcement of the Sound Amplification Devices Code, and the Defendants and Plaintiffs have filed cross motions for summary judgment. All three of these motions turn on the constitutional validity of the Sound Amplification Devices Code. The Court has considered thoroughly all of the parties’ submissions and arguments. For the following reasons, the Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is granted in its entirety, the Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is denied, and the Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is also denied.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are drawn from the parties’ submissions and are undisputed.2 Michael Marcavage is the Director of Repent America, an “evangelistic and Christian liberties organization” that is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Compl. ¶ 13.) The members of Repent America regularly express their religious beliefs by preaching on sidewalks and public streets. Plaintiffs Marcavage, Hole and Earns traveled to Manhattan, in New York City, to preach on April 13, 2011. They located themselves on the corner of Broadway and West 116th street, within close proximity to Columbia University. Because of the ambient noise and traffic commotion in the area, to make themselves heard, Plaintiffs decided to use an Aker MR2800, a small headset and amplifier device that is commonly used by tour guides and teachers.

At some point, while they were preaching, Plaintiffs were approached by P.O. Harper, a New York City police officer of the Community Affairs Department of the 26th precinct. P.O. Harper told the Plaintiffs that they could not use the Aker MR2800 headset without a permit. New York City’s Sound Amplification Devices Code requires permits for the use of sound amplification devices for non-commercial purposes in the City of New York. See Admin. Code § 10-108. Plaintiffs had not obtained such a permit. Plaintiffs asserted that they had a constitutional right to use the amplifier. P.O. Harper explained that the law required them to have filed for a permit prior to using the sound am[269]*269plification device and that, if they did not stop using it, he would issue a summons/citation. Plaintiffs stopped using the device and, on April 13, 2011, Plaintiffs wrote to Captain Ehrenberg of the 26th Precinct to convey to him what had happened. On August 13, 2011, Plaintiffs’ attorney also wrote to Captain Ehrenberg, demanding the cessation of enforcement of the sound amplification restriction. Plaintiffs never received responses to those letters.

As outlined in its preamble, the purpose of the Sound Amplification Devices Code is to:

protect the health, welfare and safety of the inhabitants of the city, to secure the health, safety, comfort, convenience, and peaceful enjoyment by the people of their rights to use the public streets, parks and places [] and to secure the peace, quiet and comfort of the city inhabitants.

Admin.Code § 10-108(a). To obtain a permit, an interested applicant must apply five days in advance, providing their name and contact information and specifying the location at which they intend to speak with the sound amplification device. See Sound Device Application, attached as Exhibit D to Plaintiffs’ Complaint. The applicant is not, however, required to describe the subject matter of the speech in which he or she intends to engage. Id. For single-day permits, each applicant must pay a fee of forty-five dollars and, for multiple-day permits, the applicant must pay forty-five dollars initially and then five dollars for each additional day, up to a maximum of four days. Admin. Code § 10 — 108(h). The Sound Amplification Devices Code also provides that violators may be subjected to fines and other penalties for noncompliance, and grants the authority to carry out and enforce the Code to New York City’s Police Commissioner,- the Police Department and the Department of Environmental Protection. Admin. Code § 10-108(j)(l).

The Code requires the Police Commissioner to issue permits to those applicants who comply with the relevant application procedures and pay the appropriate fee, unless issuance of a permit would result in overlapping permits or one of the prohibitions listed in the Code applies. Admin. Code § 10 — 108(f). The Code prohibits, inter alia, sound amplification device usage at locations within five hundred feet of a school, courthouse or church, during the institution’s hours of operation, or within five hundred feet of any hospital or similar institution, or between the hours of ten p.m. and nine a.m. Admin. Code § 10-108(f) and (g). Using and operating “sound devices and apparatus for commercial and business advertising purposes” is flatly prohibited in public places under the Sound Amplification Devices Code. Admin. Code § 10-108(c).

DISCUSSION

Defendants move for summary judgment, arguing that the Sound Amplification Devices Code is constitutional on its face and as applied to Plaintiffs, and that the Complaint must be dismissed because there are no questions of material fact and Defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiffs move for summary judgment declaring that the Sound Amplification Devices Code is unconstitutional on its face and as applied to the Plaintiffs and that Plaintiffs are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs v. City of Fort Lauderdale
11 F.4th 1266 (Eleventh Circuit, 2021)
McClellan v. City of Alexandria
363 F. Supp. 3d 665 (E.D. Virginia, 2019)
Deferio v. City of Syracuse
306 F. Supp. 3d 492 (N.D. New York, 2018)
Fleck v. Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
995 F. Supp. 2d 390 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
918 F. Supp. 2d 266, 2013 WL 246125, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marcavage-v-city-of-new-york-nysd-2013.