Ocean City Backs Off 30-Foot Noise Rule Enforcement After ACLU Threat

OCEAN CITY — After a threat of legal action over enforcement of the 30-foot noise rule for Boardwalk street performers, a rule struck down by a federal court three years ago, the Town of Ocean City has apparently acquiesced to a demand filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) earlier this week to halt the practice.

The incident arose in late July when Boardwalk street performer Ion Ionescu was first issued a verbal warning and later a written citation for violating the 30-foot noise rule for buskers on the Boardwalk. However, the ACLU intervened, pointing out a U.S. District Court judge in 2013 permanently enjoined Ocean City police from enforcing the 30-foot rule, which the high court deemed as a violation of First Amendment rights.

Since that court decision in 2013 in favor of long-time Boardwalk performer William Hassay, the town’s street performer ordinance has been rewritten, erased and written again, but somehow the 30-foot rule prohibited by a federal judge has remained in effect in Ocean City. In a letter from ACLU of Maryland Legal Director Deborah Jeon to the town in early August, Ocean City police continue to evoke the 30-foot rule for performers even after a federal judge struck it down three years ago.

“We write on behalf of violinists William Hassay and Ion Ionescu, as well as other Ocean City Boardwalk performers, about the contemptuous enforcement and threats of enforcement of the 30-foot noise ordinance that was permanently enjoined by the U.S. District Court on Dec. 13, 2014,” the letter reads. “We urge you, in the strongest terms, to act immediately to purge this contempt, so that we do not need to seek remedial orders and penalties from the Court.”

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