Overview
- The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the First Amendment Coalition sent a joint demand letter on Thursday that asks the council to repeal a 2025 rule banning two specific slurs during public comment and the rule’s linked short-term attendance bans.
- The council adopted the rule in July 2025 after officials said the words had disrupted meetings and that sergeants-at-arms had stepped in to prevent fights on multiple occasions.
- The letter argues the policy unlawfully discriminates by viewpoint, violates the First Amendment and California’s Ralph M. Brown Act, and warns the groups will sue if the rules are not repealed within 30 days.
- The rule has already been enforced against Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council member Stacey Segarra-Bohlinger, who used the C-word in protest, was removed from a meeting, and was barred from attending other meetings that day.
- Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who sponsored the motion, has defended the rule as narrowly tailored to stop disruptions and has signaled he is prepared to defend it in court and consider broader language limits, making litigation likely if the council does not act.