John Tyler Hammons Hammons Hamby & Price, PLLC (918) 683-0309 Sent from my iPhone ________________________________ From: John Hammons <JTH@hammonsprice.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 4, 2025 1:53:00 PM To: Jess Kane <jkane@robinettking.com> Subject: Re: Disruptive Public Commenter I think the preemptive exclusion of one person in particular would raise significant First Amendment concerns. Certainly if they become disruptive they can be removed on the basis of that particular disruption. But the prior restraint of suppressing a person's speech would likely not be seen as content neutral. "[S]peech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is the essence of self-government.” Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 64, 74–75 (1964). "[D]ebate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide open.” New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270 (1964). While the political speech at issue may be dissatisfying to some for what very well may be legitimate reasons, the very nature of the free exchange of ideas is that exchanges will occasionally be “vehement, caustic, and… unpleasant[].” Id. at 270. This remains true even when – indeed, especially when – the speech at issue “inflict[s] great pain” on those hearing it. Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443, 460–61 (2011). The First Amendment does not allow the government to react “to that pain by punishing the speaker.” Id. at 461. JTH John Tyler Hammons Hammons Hamby & Price, PLLC (918) 683-0309 Sent from my iPhone ________________________________ From: Jess Kane via Oama <oama@lists.imla.org> Sent: Tuesday, March 4, 2025 12:51 PM To: oama@lists.imla.org <oama@lists.imla.org> Subject: [Oama] Disruptive Public Commenter Dear OAMA, My city council wants to keep public comment as a part of its meetings but is plagued by one particular gadfly who abuses the privilege. We all know that a city council meeting is a limited public forum, and the council can put reasonable, content-neutral, time, place and manner restrictions on public comment to facilitate its meetings. Can those restrictions include a ban on comments from a particular person? As always, I appreciate your time and insights. Regards, Jess M. Kane Attorney at Law ROBINETT ǀ KING ELIAS ∙ BUHLINGER ∙ BROWN ∙ KANE 117 W. 5th Street 500 Professional Building P.O. Box 1066 Bartlesville, OK 74005-1066 (918) 336-4132 Office (918) 336-9009 Fax www.robinettking.com<http://www.robinettking.com> ECPA NOTICE: This E-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. sections 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender that you have received the message in error, then delete it.