Comments on: Tanner v. City of Virginia Beach, Part One: Impacts on Local Government Noise Ordinances

By: Kelly B. Richardson

Kelly B. Richardson — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 21:47:01 +0000

Cities should raise the penalties for noise violations to a felony and imprisonment level, this would deter people from exhibiting loud and boisterous behavior, all of these cases should be determined by a jury. This would take the element of what is reasonable and unreasonable out of the equation. Cases could go on one side or the other, but a track record would be established. There are reasonable concerns that a baby’s eardrums are affected by the loud noises, however the damage and hearing loss does not become apparent until the baby is older. Natural loud noises should be considered necessary. Loud music that creates nothing but vibrations is unnecessary. Necessity in the case of loud noises should be determined by the end result,the question that should be posed is this “Does the end result serve in the community interest?” Only the city elected officials and fathers are qualified to answer this question.

By: Noise Ordinances Being Struck Down Post-Tanner: The Problem of Decibels | Virginia Local Government Law

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:44:31 +0000

[...] Noise decibel limits are also not that easy for a typical law enforcement officer to apply and could have other disadvantages for enforcement. See Debra Livingston, Police Discretion and the Quality of Life in Public Places: Courts, Communities and the New Policing, 97 Colum. L. Rev. 551, 614 (1997). At a minimum, the right (fairly expensive) equipment and an authorized person trained to use it must be available at the time of the complaint and the noise. I previously raised concerns with the difficulty of using decibel limits and meters on this blog. [...]

By: Is the “Reasonable Person” Dead in Virginia? | Virginia Local Government Law

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:34:08 +0000

[...] localities to grapple with various issues. Local government drafting issues were discussed in my first blog article from last year, while larger questions of law were discussed in my second blog article on the [...]