The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a free-speech lawsuit filed by two people who were ousted from a Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum event featuring President George W. Bush in 2005.
Leslie Weise and Alex Young sued after they were ejected from the event because they arrived in a car with a bumper sticker that read “No More Blood for Oil.”
A federal district court judge and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the suit filed against volunteers who removed Weise and Young from the speech under the direction of law enforcement officials.
Weise and Young appealed to the Supreme Court but the petition was denied today.
“Today the Supreme Court vindicated Jay Klinkerman who was simply volunteering to help his President give a speech,” said Klinkerman’s attorney, John Zakhem.
Zakhem said the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case saves volunteers from the worries of litigation when donating their time to elected officials.
“I hope that volunteers like Mr. Klinkerman can rest assured that they won’t be sued simply for giving their time and following government policies over which they have no control,” he said.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the majority’s decision.
“I cannot see how reasonable public officials, or any staff or volunteers under their direction, could have viewed the bumper sticker as a permissible reason for depriving Weise and Young of access to the event,” Ginsburg wrote in dissent.
Ginsburg raised the possibility that the Supreme Court may still hear the issue at another time because lawsuits against government officials responsible for ousting Weise and Young are still pending.
“While we are disappointed that the Supreme Court will not review such a clear violation of First Amendment rights at this time, today’s denial of certiorari leaves open the possibility that the issue will one day come before the Court,” said Chris Hansen, an attorney representing Weise and Young for the American Civil Liberties Union. “The notion that the government can exclude anyone it chooses from such an event, just because their point of view is at odds with that of the president, is unconstitutional and un-American. We are confident that the wrong done to Leslie Weise and Alex Young will one day be righted.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
