A case before the Supreme Court is crucial to protecting the right to protest. McKesson v. Doe involves a Black Lives Matter protest in 2016 during which someone threw something that injured a police office, “John Doe,” who sued Mckesson as one of the protest leaders. The district court dismissed the lawsuit citing the Supreme Court decision, NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware, that limited the liability of protest organizers. But the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and ultimately denied an en banc hearing and out of the blue voted 8-8 denying rehearing. The Supreme Court can now choose to consider the case. (The Atlantic, April 22, 2020, by Garrett Epps)
Said ACLU’s David Cole in asking the Supreme Court to overturn the Fifth Circuit, “If 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’s ruling is a threat to the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.” (American Civil Liberties Union, December 6, 2020, press release)
For prior FAC coverage on the lawsuit, click here.