Mayor Ginger Nelson fired back at a constitutional law expert on Monday when she said that the City Council's ban on clapping is constitutional.
On Monday, Nelson responded to Southern Methodist University constitutional law expert Dale Carpenter, who said that the Amarillo City Council's ban on clapping in meetings could be unconstitutional in enforcement, if it is targeted as specific individuals. Nelson responded to the Texas Standard in interview Monday, saying that she has cleared the policy with the Amarillo city attorney and that she does not expect a legal challenge.
“We just want to operate and do the business of the city,” Nelson told the Texas Standard. “And so we just want to be able to do it in a way that makes every citizen welcome to come, welcome to use their free speech rights to speak to their elected officials about whatever issue or concern or policy they want to talk about.”
The City Council's ban on clapping gained controversy this month when Amarillo resident Kip Billups was arrested after being escorted out of a City Council meeting. Billups and several other resident applauded following Amarillo resident Michael Green's comments to the City Council, after which Billups was asked to stand by Nelson and he refused. Amarillo Police arrested Billups at City Hall and he was booked into the Potter County Jail on the charge of Disrupting a Meeting.
Photo by Nelson Campaign