Supreme Court 'Occupy Everywhere' Protester Loses Suit
Source: McClatchy
July 02, 2013
Supreme Court 'Occupy Everywhere' protester loses suit
A #Scotus protester arrested while wearing an "Occupy Everywhere" slogan on a jacket has lost a false-arrest lawsuit.
In a 14-page decision, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson dismissed the 2012 lawsuit brought by Fitzgerald Scott. Scott was arrested in January 2012 and charged with unlawful entry, after a Supreme Court police officer told him he could not be inside the court building wearing the slogan-bearing jacket. (There actually is some dispute over what, exactly, the jacket's slogan said, but it definitely had the word Occupy.)
The criminal charges were eventually dropped. Scott sued, and brought into his arguments the claim that his arrest violated the First Amendment.
Jackson concluded police had reasonable cause to arrest Scott, under a federal statute that makes it unlawful to parade, stand or move in processions or assemblages" inside the court, or to display "a flag, banner or device designed or adapted to bring into public notice a party, organization or movement."
Intriguingly, just a few weeks ago, a different D.C.-based judge found the statute unconstitutional, a finding that Jackson did not impinge on the facts in Scott's case.
Read more: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/law/2013/07/supreme-court-occupy-everywhere-protestor-loses-suit.html
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