UPDATE: United States Court of Appeals To Consider Whether The Ejection Of A Disruptive Person From A City Council Meeting Violated The Person’s Free Speech Rights

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has elected to re-hear the case of Norse v. City of Santa Cruz, , (— F.3d —-, C.A.9, March 12, 2010), in which a three-judge court panel ruled in November 2009 that a city council’s ejection of a disruptive person from a city council meeting did not violate the person’s right to free speech.

At that time, a three-judge panel of the court ruled that the ejection did not violate Robert Norse’s constitutional rights because his conduct was clearly disruptive. Norse was disrupting the good faith efforts of the Mayor to enforce the Santa Cruz city council rules and his conduct was not the result of Norse expressing any particular point of view. Norse appealed to the full Ninth Circuit court to hear his case “en banc,” and a majority of the judges on the court elected to do so.

We will continue to monitor this case and report on it in an updated Legal Alert when a ruling has been made.

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Mona G. Ebrahimi | 916.321.4500