DETROIT — A U.S. district judge ruled Thursday that the city of Ferndale violated the First Amendment right to free speech when it punished anti-war protesters on Woodward and drivers who honked to support them.

District Judge Denise Page Hood, who read her opinion from her Detroit bench, said the city failed to show the honking was excessive or posed a safety hazard. Most importantly, the honks’ “message of peace” — just as that of the protesters — is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

“For Ferndale to now claim that a honk is simply a honk is disingenuous,” she said.

Nancy Goedert, a 74-year-old Ferndale resident and member of the activist group Raging Grannies, was delighted with the ruling and said she would return to Woodward and Nine Mile, where an anti-war vigil has been held every Monday since 2002. She was ticketed in June for holding a sign that read “HONK FOR PEACE.”

“This time we won’t have to put the little line on top that says, ‘Ferndale cops say don’t,’” she said.

The ruling is significant because Ferndale is the first city in Michigan to prosecute car honking in support of a demonstration, said Michael Steinberg, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which filed the lawsuit against the city in April on behalf of five protesters and motorists.

“We believe that with this opinion, it will be the last,” he said. “Honking is a time-honored means of political expression in Michigan.”

After the ACLU intervened, the city dropped the charges.

In the summer of 2006, Ferndale began ticketing or arresting protesters for disturbing the peace. City police also ticketed a honking motorist, saying a city ordinance and state law limits motorists to honking only to warn others of danger.

City Attorney Dan Christ said Ferndale will await the judge’s written opinion, expected within days, before deciding what to do next. In the meantime, city authorities will not interfere with the protests, he said.

“Certainly the city is not going to do anything against the court’s ruling,” Christ said.

Another court date will be scheduled, when the judge could award the plaintiffs nominal damages and attorney fees.

You can reach Catherine Jun at cjun@detnews.com.

© 2008 The Detroit News

We will be meeting having our first meeting of 2008 on the last Thursday of the month, which happens to fall on the last day of January, the 31st. This will be a good time to start out the new year right and get involved locally in our fight for peace and justice. The meeting is at 7pm at Volume 1 Bookstore at 98 Broad St. in beautiful downtown Hillsdale (next to Salvation Army). Everyone is welcome.

Saturday between noon and 1pm we will be at our usual location in front of the Courthouse reminding everyone that we are still involved in an illegal, immoral and expensive war in Iraq. Join us, and freeze for one hour in solidarity with the misery the Iraqi people experience everyday.

On March 19 2008 we will be marking the fifth year of our involvement in an illegal and immoral war. Every Saturday from noon until 1pm we will be out on Broad St. in front of the Hillsdale Courthouse with our signs of protest against the war with Iraq. Please join us.

We are also currently planning our 2008 Peace Festival. It will be held in Fast Park in Jonesville as it has since 2005. We will post the date in August shortly. Anyone wishing to be in on the planning join us at our January 31 meeting at Volume 1 Bookstore at 7 pm. Volume 1 is at 96 N. Broad St.

We had a good 2007 Peace Festival, we hope to make 2008 a better festival. Pictures will be posted of some of the past festivals soon. Watch for a new photo link.

This year’s featured display will be “A Walk in Their Shoes”
commemorating and symbolizing the civilian casualties in Iraq. We will
have supporting documentation available, as well as our Peace Chain
with links for every American military death and other materials.
A new event for this year’s Festival will be the showing of a wide variety
of politically-oriented films throughout the afternoon in the Wright Street
Gymnasium, directly across the street from the Park. This year’s Afterglow
will also be held in the Gym following the Festival.

For information about the event, or about setting up a booth, please contact Aimee England at (517)437-2228 to register or for further information. Or email volume1book@dmci.net with “Peace Fest” in the subject line. The space is free, but groups need to provide their own chairs and tables, and other material.

Download Festival Program (PDF)