FIRE sues Los Angeles City Council over policy banning certain words during public comment

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 6, 2026 — A pair of free speech groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Los Angeles resident against the city of Los Angeles after its city council banned certain words during public meetings, a violation of the First Amendment.

Last summer, the council banned the words “cunt,” “nigger,” and all of their “variations” during public comment periods — words that, however offensive one may find them, are protected speech. Tuesday’s lawsuit, filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and First Amendment Coalition, comes after the council ignored a letter from the groups that outlined the ban’s constitutional issues. 

“While the council is free to condemn speech it considers offensive, the Constitution prohibits the council from silencing it,” said FIRE attorney Zach Silver. “Giving government officials the power to decide which words people are allowed to use is exactly the kind of censorship the First Amendment is meant to prevent.”

In July 2025, the Los Angeles City Council enacted the ban in response to complaints about attendees using the words while speaking during the public-comment portion of meetings. The text of the word ban doesn’t even identify the words directly, instead going to great lengths to spell them out: 

A public speaker may not use the N-word or C-word, or any variation of either of these words, in a Council or Committee meeting. To avoid ambiguity, the N-word is spelled ‘n’ followed by ‘i’ followed by ‘g’ followed by ‘g’ followed by ‘e’ followed by ‘r.’ The C-word is spelled ‘c’ followed by ‘u’ followed by ‘n’ followed by ‘t.’ Examples of variations of these epithets include, but are not limited to, the words' plural forms and words created by adding ‘-ish,’ ‘-y,’ ‘-ly’ or ‘-ing’ to create related adjectives, adverbs, verbs, or gerundives.

According to Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the primary sponsor of the rule, the word ban is only the first step in council leadership’s plan to more broadly regulate speech it deems offensive. 

Harris-Dawson has elaborated: “This is as much a step as we can take at this moment, we believe. But we think it will open us up to take additional steps in the future.” In another instance, he said, “We’re going to try to get in all the terms.”

Recognizing that the word ban violated her free speech rights, FIRE plaintiff Stacey Bohlinger took the podium last October. Singing to the tune of the “Ghostbusters” theme song, she criticized the policy and the council for being “afraid of the word ‘cunt.’” She continued, “Kind of insane how you’re more offended by bad words than police brutalizing citizens and journalists in the streets.” The council warned her that if she used a banned word again, she would be removed. Then, in December, Stacey protested the ban again, this time singing, “Still I won’t call you a cunt,” to the tune of Adele’s “Someone Like You.” The council again warned her, then removed her from the meeting when she repeated the word.

COURTESY PHOTOS OF STACEY

In addition to prohibiting the banned words and their variations, the council adopted a separate rule banning someone who is removed from a meeting from attending future meetings through at least the end of the following business day and for up to six business days depending on their recent removal history. So, when the council removed Stacey from that December meeting, it also barred her from attending all council and committee meetings for the next two business days — six meetings in all. 

As FIRE and the First Amendment Coalition explain in today’s lawsuit, the First Amendment limits the council’s authority to restrict the public’s speech at its meetings. While the council can address actual disruption when it occurs, it can’t simply declare specific words off limits and deem their mere utterance disruptive. Nor can the council bar people from future meetings based on what happened at a past one.

“When the government can police the words people use, a list of forbidden words has a way of growing,” Silver said. “And here, the council has already told us it won’t stop at these two words. We’re taking the council to court to put an end to the list before the council adds another word to it.”

The lawsuit also alleges the speech restrictions violate the Ralph M. Brown Act, a California law that requires government meetings to be open to the public and guarantees the public’s participation absent actual disruption of a meeting.

“If the First Amendment means anything, it means the government can't tell people how they can criticize the government,” said David Loy, the First Amendment Coalition’s legal director. “This kind of censorship is a threat to everyone’s freedom of speech.”

FIRE and FAC’s lawsuit asks the court to strike down both rules and block the council from enforcing them, restoring Angelenos’ right to speak freely to their government without censorship or exclusion from public meetings. It also seeks damages for the violation of Stacey’s First Amendment rights.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them. 

The First Amendment Coalition protects and promotes a free press, freedom of expression, and the people’s right to know. Nonpartisan and nonprofit, FAC believes that the broadest range of engaged and informed communities is essential to the health of our democracy — that the values expressed by the First Amendment provide a blueprint for an inclusive, equitable society and a responsive, accountable government. To that end, FAC educates, advocates, and litigates to advance government transparency and First Amendment protections for all.

CONTACT
Katie Stalcup, Communications Campaign Manager, FIRE: 215-717-3473; media@thefire.org