The Department of Justice has sided with attorneys for two Secret Service agents who were sued after arresting a man who confronted former Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Justice Department argues that the law protects agents when they are making split-second protective decisions.
Documents filed Monday in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals support the agents’ request that the court overturn a ruling last month that allows a lawsuit filed by Steven Howards to proceed on First Amendment grounds.
Secret Service agents arrested Howards in 2006, claiming he approached Cheney in Beaver Creek, touched his shoulder and told him his Iraq war policies were disgusting. Howards says in his lawsuit the arrest was done in retaliation for what he said. No federal charges were filed and state charges were dropped.
