Nearly every student who went to a late-night house party this weekend in Athens was at risk for a minor misdemeanor. It does not matter if it wasn't your house, it was your first offense or you live on a street inhabited solely by Ohio University students.
After midnight during the weekend and 10 p.m. during the week - which includes Thursday for the many who treat it otherwise - Athens Police now can approach any residency patrol deems too noisy, no complaint necessary.
Even if your neighbors don't object to weekend antics typical of Mill, Congress and High streets, you still could be fined up to $100 for blasting Lady Gaga.
Our big problem is subjectivity. Who would an officer choose to cite if the whole neighborhood is audibly celebrating Fall Quarter? How do you decide if the house with students beckoning passersby from the porch is louder than the house with a beer pong tournament in the front yard? For that matter, what is too noisy?
The section of Athens' ordinance titled Radios and Other Devices states anything that creates sound in such a manner as to disturb the peace
quiet and comfort of neighboring inhabitants or would make it hard for voluntary listeners to converse in the same room as the device is, is in violation. The subjective wording makes it so any sound louder than conversational tone is up for citation.
It is difficult to be consistent or fair when each case is determined by an individual officer's opinion. There probably aren't enough officers in Southeastern Ohio to execute this ordinance by the book on a Thursday night as well as handle more serious problems, such as fights, harassment or drunken driving.
Beyond the futility of equal enforcement, the ability to pull the noise-ordinance card means officers have probable cause to enter almost any home after midnight Friday or Saturday and find a host of violations in students' homes. The power police now have is troubling.
If this is all new to you, that's because the policy went into effect this summer. We find it interesting that OU students, the group this change in policy is aimed toward, had no chance to debate the policy. Secrecy only adds to the feeling that the policy is a scheme to target us.
Capt. Tom Pyle of Athens Police released a disclaimer at the end of his Aug. 25 news conference, saying the Department isn't trying to infringe on a person's right to host a party and it is responding to citizens' complaints. He adds that noise travels in unpredictable ways and we shouldn't argue with the rationale behind the policy. Well, then why can't officers wait for noise complaints? As for the variability of sound waves: When you decide to live in certain areas, you know what background noise you'll hear while drifting off each night. Enough said.
Although we don't know why an ordinance that has existed since the early '90s suddenly is a priority for APD, the new search-and-destroy mission might do more harm than good.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors.
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