Supreme Court May Consider If States Can Ban Honking at Political Rallies

An anti-Trump protester sued in federal court, arguing California’s ban on expressive honking infringed the First Amendment. The 9th Circuit upheld the law.

The Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Rudy Sulgan/Getty Images

The Supreme Court may soon consider whether honking a car horn is a constitutionally protected form of free speech.

Although Americans have long sounded the horns of their vehicles to express themselves politically, many states, including California, forbid honking the horn on one’s automobile except to warn of a safety hazard. Officials say hitting the horn excessively dilutes the effectiveness of honking as a means of signaling danger or facilitating the flow of traffic.