By Douglas V. Gibbs
A case that has important Free Speech ramifications has resulted in the United States Supreme Court rejecting an appeal by a pair that claim they were prevented from attending a 1985 speech by President George W. Bush after they arrived in a car bearing a “No More Blood For Oil” bumper sticker. The opinion of the court is that the two people cannot sue White House officials and an event volunteer for disallowing them to be present at the President's speech on Social Security.
Though Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor cannot see how public officials viewed the bumper sticker as a permissible reason for denying the two people from access to the event, it seems perfectly reasonable to others in regards to protecting the President.
I am sure there would be no qualm about denying access to an event where Obama is going to speak by a pair of folks with a "Comrade Obama is Destroying America" bumper sticker on their vehicle.
Weise and Young did have tickets to the event, which was being held at a private air and space museum in Denver. The pair, represented in the lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLU), say they had no plans to disrupt the speech.
The Supreme Court, by rejecting the appeal, is upholding a 2-1 decision in January by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the inferior court ruled that the officials and volunteers were immune from suit. The majority said the First Amendment doesn’t bar the government from excluding people, because of their views, from official speeches on private property.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by Pair Suing Over Expulsion From Bush Speech - Bloomberg
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