Los Angeles City Council faces legal challenge over word ban

In July 2025 the Los Angeles City Council adopted Council Rule 7, prohibiting speakers in public‑comment sessions from using a racial slur or an obscene term for a woman, and any variation of those words. Violators can be excluded from the remainder of that meeting, all later meetings that day, and the next business day.

First Amendment organizations – the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the First Amendment Coalition – sent a letter to Council President Marqueece Harris‑Dawson and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto demanding the ban be repealed within 30 days, threatening litigation on behalf of resident Stacey Segarra‑Bohlinger, who has been barred from council meetings under the rule. The groups argue the policy violates the U.S. Constitution and California’s Brown Act, and warn it could set a precedent for broader bans on speech deemed offensive.