Activists sue over Fort Wayne's noise-limits ordinance

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Two activists are suing the city of Fort Wayne, alleging that its noise ordinance is violating their rights to free speech.

Rowan Greene and Jain Young's federal lawsuit seeks to block the city from enforcing one portion of its ordinance.

That section bars people from using machines such as amplifiers to produce sounds "plainly audible to a person with normal hearing" more than 50 feet away.

Their lawsuit argues that the ordinance's prohibition is unreasonable because "normal sounds of the city" such as construction sounds can also be heard more than 50 feet away.

Greene tells The Journal Gazette he was using an amplifier during an August peace rally outside the Allen County Courthouse when he was ticketed under the ordinance.

A city spokesman declined to comment on the litigation.

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Information from: The Journal Gazette, http://www.journalgazette.net