A US federal appeals court on Friday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of protest curfews in New York City.
The curfews, established in response to demonstrations surrounding the murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, were implemented for a one-week period in 2020. Lamel Jeffrey, Thaddeus Blake and Chayse Pena were each arrested and charged with violating the curfews. In a subsequent lawsuit, each alleged that the city’s protest restrictions violated their First Amendment right to free assembly and their Fourteenth Amendment protection against unlawful arrest. In 2022, a federal district court dismissed the case, stating that the curfews constituted a valid public safety regulation that “left open ample alternative channels for expressive activity.”
Writing for a unanimous appellate panel, Circuit Judge Reena Raggi upheld the district court’s ruling:
The curfew here … was imposed in response to documented violence, destruction, and looting across multiple areas of a large, densely populated city … it first relied on traditional policing; then, when criminally escalated, it supplemented traditional policing with … a curfew for an additional six nights … and finally, when conditions improved and stabilized, the City ended the curfew one night early.
Federal courts have upheld government limitations on lawful assembly so long as the content or messaging of a protest is unaffected by the regulations. Typically, these measures are implemented to achieve a public safety objective. In 1941, the US Supreme Court recognized in Cox v. New Hampshire that certain time, place, and manner restrictions are permissible under the First Amendment.
In light of the outcome, the plaintiff’s arrests remain valid under New York law. Several additional disputes between George Floyd protestors and municipal officials remain pending in courts across the country. Last year, a federal jury awarded a group of activists $14 million for enduring excessive force at the hands of police in Denver, Colorado.
