Ban on "Personal, Impertinent or Slanderous Remarks" in City Council Public Comments Is Unconstitutional

In Merriott v. City of Bossier City, decided June 25 by Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez and joined by Judges Edith Brown Clement and Dana Douglas struck down a City Council public comment policy that Any person making personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks or who shall become boisterous while addressing the Council shall be forthwith, by the President Pro-tem, barred from further audience before the Council unless permission to continue by [sic] granted by a majority vote of the Council. The opinion is long, but here's an excerpt of the analysis that holds that the policy is overbroad: "Personal" is ordinarily understood to mean "of, relating to, or affecting a particular person." And a "remark" is ordinarily understood to mean "the act of remarking," "an expression of opinion or judgment