Citing 'My Cousin Vinny,' DC Circuit Upholds SCOTUS Protest Ban

The episode was also notable because during discovery, the court’s audiotape of the protest was produced, containing some “hot mic” comments from justices while the demonstrators spoke. “Give them stiff, stiff sentences,” Justice Antonin Scalia muttered. “Oh, please,” Chief Justice Roberts Jr. said as the protest wore on.

On appeal, protesters in the case United States v. Bronstein asserted that “harangue” and “oration” were archaic words not widely understood in modern parlance, making the law unconstitutionally vague. They cited dictionary definitions that gave broader and sometimes harmless meanings to the words.

Judge Janice Rogers Brown. Diego M. Radzinschi

But Judge Janice Rogers Brown, writing for a unanimous panel of the D.C. Circuit, rejected those concerns, stating, “That ‘harangue’ and ‘oration’ may not roll off the average person’s tongue today does not alter their possession of a settled meaning around public speeches.”

Brown added, “It is true, as their dictionary definitions show, that ‘harangue’ and ‘oration’ can cover different facets of public speeches—’orations’ can include formal speeches, while ‘harangues’ can include angry or vehement speeches.  But we are interpreting a statute, not restating a dictionary.  Our search here is not for every facet of “harangue” or “oration,” but their meaning within the statute at issue.”

Brown added, with tongue in cheek, “An oral argument, for example, could be considered a public speech within the Supreme Court. But oral arguments do not tend to disrupt the court’s operations (well, arguably).”

In the case before the court, Brown said it was clear that the protesters meant to disrupt the proceedings by speaking to the court directly.

“Their coordinated standing, facing the bench, and messaging indicate the appellees were addressing the court and gallery,” Brown wrote. Citing a line from the 1992 movie My Cousin Vinny, Brown quoted the judge in the movie (played by Fred Gwynne) as saying, “Don’t talk to me sitting in that chair! . . . When you’re addressing this court, you’ll rise and speak to me in a clear, intelligible voice.”

Joining Brown in the decision were Senior Judge Stephen Williams and Judge Sri Srinivasan.  Srinivasan, formerly a frequent advocate before the Supreme Court, authored the D.C. Circuit’s 2015 ruling in Hodge v. Talkin that upheld a related law barring assemblages, processions and banners inside the Supreme Court or on its grounds.