The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has reinstated a First Amendment lawsuit against a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department detective who arrested members of a local activist group for allegedly using chalk to write anti-police messages on sidewalks.
The appellate panel affirmed the opinion of U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon of the District of Nevada, holding that a reasonable fact finder could conclude that the detective, Christopher Tucker, violated the First Amendment rights of Brian Ballentine, Catalino Dazo, and Kelly Patterson, members of the Sunset Activist Collective who were arrested after a series of chalking instances in the summer of 2013.
