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Council adopts revised public‑participation guide after legal debate on free-speech limits
Summary
The Harper Woods City Council adopted an amended Guide to Public Participation intended to be content‑neutral and consistent with First Amendment limits after an extended discussion with the city attorney about what the city may lawfully regulate at public meetings.
The Harper Woods City Council voted to adopt an amended Guide to Public Participation at Council Meetings after a substantive discussion about the scope of the First Amendment and what the city may lawfully regulate at public hearings.
City Attorney DeWally explained that under constitutional law the municipality may regulate only time, place and manner in a content‑neutral way at open meetings and cannot adopt rules that are content‑based restrictions on speech. "The only thing we can regulate under the First Amendment is time, place, and manner when we have an open meeting," DeWally said during the council…
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