Ward v. Rock Against Racism
United States Supreme Court
491 U.S. 781 (1989)
New York City required performers at a Central Park bandshell to use city-supplied sound equipment and a city sound technician, adopted after repeated complaints about excessive noise disrupting the adjacent designated-quiet Sheep Meadow and nearby residential apartments; concert sponsor Rock Against Racism (plaintiff) challenged the requirement against city official Ward (defendant) as violating the First Amendment, and the district court upheld it as a reasonable time, place, and manner regulation, while the court of appeals reversed.
Whether a time, place, or manner regulation of protected speech under the First Amendment must be narrowly tailored to serve the government's legitimate, content-neutral interests, and whether it must also be the least restrictive or least intrusive means of doing so.