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Cert Denied for Denver Three, Ginsburg, Sotomayor Dissent

Remember the "Denver Three" who were kicked out of a Colorado campaign event for George Bush? The Tenth Circuit ruled the officials had qualified immunity. They petitioned for cert and the Supreme Court denied their request today. The question presented:

Whether clearly established First Amendment law prohibits government officials who are speaking at events that are open to the public and paid for by taxpayers from excluding people from the audience on the basis of viewpoint

Justice Ginsburg dissented, joined by Justice Sotomayor:

I cannot see how reasonable public officials, or any staff or volunteers under their direction, could have viewed the bumper sticker as a permissible reason for depriving Weise and Young of access to the event. Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals held respondents entitled to qualified immunity because “no specific authority instructs this court . . . how to treat the ejection of a silent attendee from an official speech based on the attendee’s protected ex-pression outside the speech area.” 593 F. 3d 1163, 1170 (CA10 2010).

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