The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas and the ACLU petitioned the US Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the Texas 7th Court of Appeals, which affirmed the conviction of three residents of Gainesville, Texas for the alleged “obstruction of a highway or other passageway” during a protest, the groups announced Tuesday. They also filed a stay application pending the disposition of the petition.

The three people convicted, Torrey Henderson, Amara Ridge, and Justin Thompson, were members of a local advocacy group PRO Gainesville and had organized a peaceful protest in their hometown aimed at the removal of a confederate monument outside the Cooke County Courthouse. The protestors wanted to remove what they described as a legacy of “racism and violence” portrayed by the monument. None of the fifty-odd protestors were arrested, but arrest warrants for the three organizers were issued three days later.

The law invoked to arrest the organizers was Section 42.03 of the Texas Penal Code, which amounts obstruction of a highway, street, sidewalk, etc. to a Class B Misdemeanour and is punishable with up to 180 days in prison, a $2,000 fine or both. The defendants were convicted by a jury at the Cooke County Court, and were each sentenced to 7 days in prison and a $2,000 fine. The defendants were represented by the ACLU and filed an appeal to the Texas 7th Court of Appeals, which dismissed the appeal. Currently, they have filed a petition for a Writ of Certiorari before the Supreme Court of the United States.

The petition highlights the testimonies of a number of police officers who were present at the protest, all of which stated that the protestors had not obstructed any roads and that the protest, which lasted for about 10-11 minutes, was peaceful. The prosecution and lower courts primarily relied on an incident whereby a biker obstructed a car on the road “for 20 to 90 seconds” to uphold the conviction. However, no evidence was provided to establish a connection between the biker and the protestors.

The National Legal Director of the ACLU, David Cole, said:

The First Amendment protects our right to use public streets and sidewalks to assemble, protest, and march about issues of public concern. Punishing our clients for organizing a nonviolent civil rights protest – where they neither obstructed traffic nor directed others to do so – is unconstitutional.

In addition to the ACLU, others have come forward to characterise the incident as a violation of freedom of speech. One such entity is the news and information group “Word in Black” which has said that “[the] right to peacefully protest is under attack in America.”

The US has faced criticism for a backslide in the right to protest, with Amnesty International criticizing treatment of student protestors and attempts “to shut down legitimate and peaceful dissent.”