{"id":87412,"date":"2019-12-06T20:46:50","date_gmt":"2019-12-07T01:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-deray-mckesson-urge-supreme-court-defend-first-amendment-right-protest"},"modified":"2023-09-29T13:20:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T17:20:37","slug":"aclu-deray-mckesson-urge-supreme-court-defend-first-amendment-right-protest","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-deray-mckesson-urge-supreme-court-defend-first-amendment-right-protest","title":{"rendered":"ACLU, DeRay Mckesson Urge Supreme Court to Defend First Amendment Right to Protest"},"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-87412","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"Lower Court Ruling, If Left Standing, Would Gut Civil Rights Era Speech Protections","date_and_time":"2019-12-06 20:45:00","featured_image":87413,"show_on_press_releases_landing_page":true,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K7CjwMGBAYk\r\n\r\n<a href=\"\/online-privacy-statement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Privacy statement.<\/a> This embed will serve content from youtube.com.\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON \u2014 The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that, if left standing, would dismantle civil rights era Supreme Court precedent safeguarding the First Amendment right to protest. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/legal-document\/mckesson-v-doe-petition-writ-certiorari\">petition for certiorari<\/a> was filed on behalf of DeRay Mckesson, a prominent civil rights activist and Black Lives Matter movement organizer.\r\n\r\nThe Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in August <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ca5.uscourts.gov\/opinions\/pub\/17\/17-30864-CV0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ruled<\/a> that an unnamed Baton Rouge police officer\u2019s lawsuit against Mckesson could proceed. The lawsuit, <em>Doe v. Mckesson,<\/em> seeks damages from Mckesson for injuries the officer sustained at a protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 9, 2016. The protest was held to celebrate the life of Alton Sterling \u2014 a Black resident who was shot and killed by two on-duty police officers \u2014 and demand accountability and transformative change. Mckesson joined the protest and encouraged others to do so as well.\r\n\r\nThe officer alleges that, during the protest, one protester threw a rock, which resulted in the officer\u2019s injuries. Mckesson did not throw the rock, nor does the officer allege he did. Instead, the officer\u2019s lawsuit claims Mckesson is responsible for the injuries simply because he encouraged the protest.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe goal of lawsuits like these is to prevent people from showing up at a protest out of the fear that they might be held responsible if anything happens,\u201d said <strong>Mckesson<\/strong>. \u201cIf this precedent lasts, it could make organizers all across the country responsible for all types of things they have no control over, such as random people coming into a protest and causing problems. We can\u2019t let that happen.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Supreme Court in 1982 held that while the Constitution does not protect violence, it does limit the government\u2019s ability to place responsibility for that violence onto peaceful protesters. That seminal civil rights case, <em>NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co.<\/em>, has been cited repeatedly to ensure robust speech protections, including to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-trump-kentucky-lawsuit\/trump-wins-dismissal-of-inciting-to-riot-lawsuit-over-2016-rally-idUSKCN1LR22B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dismiss a lawsuit<\/a> against then-candidate Donald Trump for violent acts committed at a campaign rally and to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/free-speech\/south-dakota-governor-caves-on-attempted-efforts-to-silence-pipeline-protesters\/\">challenge<\/a> efforts to stifle Keystone XL pipeline protests.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Supreme Court has long recognized that peaceful protesters cannot be held liable for the unintended, unlawful actions of others,\u201d said <strong>ACLU National Legal Director David Cole<\/strong>. \u201cIf the law had allowed anyone to sue leaders of social justice movements over the violent actions of others, there would have been no Civil Rights Movement. The lower court\u2019s ruling is a threat to the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe ACLU warns that as long as the Fifth Circuit\u2019s ruling remains in effect, Americans will be deterred from exercising their First Amendment rights out of fear of inviting \u2014 and having to fight \u2014 lawsuits that the Supreme Court has already held unconstitutional.\r\n\r\n\u201cUnless the Supreme Court reverses this travesty, these kinds of suits will become fearsome and illegitimate weapons wielded to silence people who have important, but uncomfortable things to tell their fellow citizens,\u201d said <strong>David Goldberg, counsel of record on Mckesson\u2019s legal team<\/strong> and attorney with Donahue, Goldberg, Weaver, &amp; Littleton, LLP.\r\n\r\nThe petition for certiorari is here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/legal-document\/mckesson-v-doe-petition-writ-certiorari\">https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/legal-document\/mckesson-v-doe-petition-writ-certiorari<\/a>.\r\n\r\nAn ACLU video on the filing is here: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/K7CjwMGBAYk.%C2%A0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/K7CjwMGBAYk. <\/a>"}}],"drupal_node_id":"94151","email":"media@aclu.org","phone":"(212) 549-2666","address":{"address_1":"125 Broad Street","address_2":"18th Floor","city":"New York","state":"NY","zip_code":10004,"country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","issues":"","press_releases_related_to_cases":[63189,155162,195283],"spokesperson":"","related_affiliates":"","related_content_documents":"","related_content_publications":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>American Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ACLU, DeRay Mckesson Urge Supreme Court to Defend First Amendment Right to Protest | American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-deray-mckesson-urge-supreme-court-defend-first-amendment-right-protest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-29T17:20:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-deray-mckesson-urge-supreme-court-defend-first-amendment-right-protest\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-deray-mckesson-urge-supreme-court-defend-first-amendment-right-protest\",\"name\":\"ACLU, DeRay Mckesson Urge Supreme Court to Defend First Amendment Right to Protest | American Civil Liberties Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-07T01:46:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-29T17:20:37+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-deray-mckesson-urge-supreme-court-defend-first-amendment-right-protest\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"description\":\"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. 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