Facts:  Petitioner Helen Immelt was convicted of violating Snohomish County Code §10.01.040, which prohibits the sounding of vehicle horns for purposes other than public safety, after sounding her automobile’s horn for nearly ten minutes outside of her neighbor’s home following a dispute.  Immelt appealed her conviction on grounds that §10.01.040 is an unconstitutionally overbroad ordinance that infringes the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the 1^st Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I §5 of the Washington State Constitution.  The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Immelt’s conviction.  Immelt appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s):   Is §10.01.040 an unconstitutionally overbroad ordinance that infringes the right to freedom of speech and expression?

Conclusion:  Justice Stephens’ opinion for the Court reversed the Washington Court of Appeals, concluding that the non-safety related sounding of a vehicle horn may rise to the level of protected speech when it is intended to communicate a message and the message can be understood in context, making §10.01.040’s prohibition of all non-safety related sounding of vehicle horns unconstitutionally overbroad.  Thus, the Court held that regardless of whether Immelt’s sounding of her automobile’s horn constituted protected speech, her conviction fails constitutional scrutiny.

Docket No. 83343-5 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 60991-2)

Petitioner: Helen Immelt

(Counsel: John J. Tollefson)

Respondent: State of Washington

(Counsel: Charles Franklin Blackman and Seth Aaron Fine)

Briefs:

Argument: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 1:30pm

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, October 27th, 2011

Prevailing Party: Helen Immelt (Petitioner)

Vote: 6-3

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen1 Court (2010-2011)

Madsen
(Dissent)

Johnson

Alexander

Sanders

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson
(Dissent)

Stephens
(Majority)