Fort Worth Police Department Violates Citizen's Rights at Pride Festival

GFA LAW, PLLC announced today that it is representing David Grisham, a street preacher who was threatened with arrest and subsequently cited by officers of the Fort Worth Police Department for engaging in peaceful and protected speech outside the Trinity Pride Festival. GFA LAW intends to vigorously challenge the citation and any related enforcement action as a direct and unlawful violation. Mr. Grisham was exercising his right to express his views on matters of significant public concern. The Fort Worth Police Department responded, not by protecting his constitutional rights, but by threatening him with arrest and ultimately issuing a citation. That citation is indefensible. The Noise Ordinance clearly requires that officers must first measure the challenged noise using a decibel meter. See Ordinance Section 23-8 attached. This ordinance was not followed because no officer performed a decibel check. Officers failed to follow the Fort Worth Ordinance. Moreover, the ordinance violates state preemption. Tex. Penal code 1.08, to wit: Sec. 1.08. PREEMPTION. “No governmental subdivision or agency may enact or enforce a law that makes any conduct covered by this code an offense subject to a criminal penalty. This section shall apply only as long as the law governing the conduct proscribed by this code is legally enforceable.” Texas already has an “unreasonable noise” regulation, so Fort Worth's Ordinance is preempted when it contradicts Texas law. Tex. Penal Code 42.01(a)(5) makes it an offense if a person “makes unreasonable noise in a public place other than a sport shooting range.” Tex. Penal Code 42.01(c)(2) defines unreasonable noise: “a noise is presumed to be unreasonable if the noise exceeds a decibel level of 85 after the person making the noise receives notice from a magistrate or peace officer that the noise is a public nuisance.” Because Fort Worth's Ordinance lowers the limit to 80 decibels, it is unlawful ab initio. GFA LAW calls on the City of Fort Worth to immediately dismiss the citation and retract any related enforcement action. CJ Grisham, Senior Partner

Note: David Grisham is an Amarillo-based street preacher and evangelist. He shares no known familial or professional relationship with CJ Grisham, Senior Partner of GFA LAW, PLLC.