In a closely watched First Amendment case stemming from a clash between a group of Christian protesters and the attendees of a gay pride event, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Philadelphia police acted properly in removing the protesters because they were disrupting the event with bullhorns and disobeying police orders to move.
“The right of free speech does not encompass the right to cause disruption, and that is particularly true when those claiming protection of the First Amendment cause actual disruption of an event covered by a permit,” U.S. Circuit Judge Dolores K. Sloviter wrote in Susan Startzell, et al. v. City of Philadelphia, et al.
