Horn honking is not free speech

Late risers can rest easy: No matter how much you bother your neighbors, they cannot wake you up on a Saturday morning by honking their car horns in front of your house.

The Seattle Times reports that last week, the Washington Court of Appeals ruled that laying on your horn in front of a neighbor’s home is not protected under the umbrella of the First Amendment and cannot be classified as free speech.

This unusual ruling was prompted by an incident that occurred three years ago in Monroe, Wa., when Helen Immelt honked her horn for ten continuous minutes in front of her neighbor’s home in the early hours of a Saturday morning. The neighbor had complained about the chickens Immelt kept in her yard and she felt this “wake-up call” was suitable retaliation.

The resulting noise violation led Immelt on a three-year crusade for what she felt were her First Amendment rights. In his ruling, Justice C. Kenneth Grosse stated that, “Horn honking per se is not free speech.”

While it may not be a landmark case, it will certainly help us all sleep easier on the weekends. Even if we complained about our neighbors’ chickens.