Rosenbaum

We here consider the free speech rights of Christian evangelists who operate religious outreach with the use of amplified sound in the streets of San Francisco, and whose efforts have collided with the City of San Francisco’s prerogative under its noise ordinance and permitting scheme to ensure that its citizens are not subject to unreasonably loud speech and music. Plaintiffs-Appellants Lawrence Rosen-baum and Eric Livingston filed suit in the Northern District of California alleging constitutional claims under the First and Fourteenth Amendments that arose out of appellee City of San Francisco’s permitting process and noise ordinance enforcement, which the district court denied after a bench trial. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

On appeal, appellants claim that San Francisco police officers unevenly enforced the municipal noise ordinance, in violation of equal protection, by frequently stopping or conditioning appellants’ use of amplified sound while leaving other groups’ and individuals’ loudspeaker use unmolested. Appellants also contend that city officials engaged in viewpoint discrimination. In particular, appellants claim that city officials implemented a…