Free Speech

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear oral argument in a lawsuit to uphold Working Washington’s free speech rights on light rail trains. The case will is being heard today, Friday, March 8 at the U.S. Courthouse in Seattle (1010 Fifth Ave., 7th floor). The ACLU of Washington is representing Working Washington in the suit.

January 23 - Update:  The jury today reached a verdict and ruled in favor of the City of Tacoma.  No decision has been made yet as to whether to appeal the case. Suit Says Police Actions Aimed to Prevent Peaceful Protest The ACLU-WA is representing six citizens who are suing over violations of their rights to free speech and assembly by police at anti-war demonstrations at the Port of Tacoma. A jury trial in the case began in federal district court in Tacoma on January 7.

A veterans group which has marched in Auburn’s Veterans Day Parade for the past six years is suing to march in the 2012 parade. The group says that the city of Auburn officials are violating free speech rights by unfairly denying its application to march in the civic celebration.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in a lawsuit seeking to uphold the Seattle Middle East Awareness Campaign’s free speech rights on Metro buses. It is when we are faced with speech which is upsetting to some people that support of the First Amendment is most important.

The Seattle’s park permitting law gives officials too much arbitrary discretion in granting or denying applications. It needs to be changed to meet constitutional standards.   

The ACLU-WA is appealing its lawsuit seeking to have Sound Transit run a paid ad by Working Washington touting the importance of good jobs at SeaTac. “ When a public agency operates an advertising program open to a wide variety of messages, individual government officials should not be left to decide subjectively what is ‘controversial.’

The ACLU of Washington has decided not to appeal the April 10, 2012 ruling by the U.S. District Court in Spokane against library patrons’ challenge of the Internet filtering policy of a regional library system. While the ACLU supports the American Library Association’s position that public libraries should not filter Internet content for patrons, the current facts in the case do not support an effective appeal.