A Ball State University student, along with Indiana Civil Liberties Union, is fighting Muncie's noise ordinance.
Ball State senior Robert Duncan, who was issued a fine for violating the noise ordinance on Oct. 8, said Muncie's noise ordinance is too vague and overbroad.
Jackie Suess, Duncan's attorney with the ICLU, said the problem with Muncie's ordinance is the process that is used to determine what actually violates the ordinance.
"The ordinance is vague in that it doesn't let people know ahead of time what is prohibited," Suess said.
The ordinance, which was amended Oct. 3, states that sound audible from 40 feet or more outside of a property line of the source could result in a fine. A location cited three or more times would be labeled a "No Party Property" and could be fined up to $750.
City Council member Alison Quirk said she did not think the amended noise ordinance was too vague.
"They have to work to get into the situation," Quirk said. "It's something where you have to have three violations ... It has to go through court three different times before it is deemed a 'No Party Property.'"
Duncan said the violation was issued after a neighbor made a call to police about a car driving in the neighbor's yard, not about the noise coming from his house. However, when the police arrived, they issued Duncan and two others with fines for violating the noise ordinance.
Duncan was fined $200 for his violation and also has to pay $106 in court costs.
While 29 other people who had received fines for noise ordinance violations accepted their charges during an initial hearing on Nov. 30, Duncan denied violating the noise ordinance and filed a motion to dismiss his case.
He also contacted the ICLU to inform it of his situation, Duncan said.
Duncan originally intended to represent himself, but the ICLU contacted him Monday and telling him Suess would represent him, he said.
Duncan's next hearing was scheduled for Dec. 14, but Suess said the ICLU was in the process of asking for a continuance to better prepare Duncan's case.
Cases like this are why the ICLU exists, Suess said.
"We take first amendment and constitutional cases against the government," she said. "We try to step in and help. That's what we're here for."
The ICLU is also currently representing a client charged with violating Indianapolis' noise ordinance.
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