PROTESTORS:
- Complaint
- Motion for Preliminary Injunction
- Defendants’ Opposition
- Our Supplemental Brief
- Defendants’ Supplemental Brief
- Order Denying Injunction
- Our Supplemental Brief in Support of Preliminary Injunction
JOURNALISTS:
DELGADO:
The matter was appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals on an emergency basis.
APPEAL DOCUMENTS:
Dismissal:
The Karen Read “Buffer Zone” Crackdown
Speak Scripture, You’re Safe. Criticize Power, You’re Caged.
This week, a federal court recognized what we’ve been saying all along: Jason Grant and Thomas Derosier’s constitutional rights were violated. In a clear victory for free speech and the freedom of the press, the court acknowledged that officials unlawfully targeted Grant for holding a sign with a Bible-verse on it and Derosier for filming on a public sidewalk—acts that are squarely protected under the First Amendment.
The ruling is a crucial affirmation that the government cannot suppress speech just because it’s inconvenient or unpopular. But this victory is incomplete.
At the same time, in the very same courthouse, the court upheld the arrest of Erica Walsh for wearing a sweatshirt that read “Criminals Control Norfolk County.” Judge Doolin reasoned, citing unsubstantiated claims that the shirt might intimidate jurors—despite her being outside a different building, with no evidence any juror ever saw her.
We’ve since filed a supplemental briefing with the court to address this blatant inconsistency. If quoting Scripture is protected speech—as it should be—then so is criticizing local government officials. To say otherwise is to declare that only government-approved viewpoints are allowed near the courthouse. That’s not how the First Amendment works.
This bench-created “Buffer Zone” is a tool for the censorship of opinions critical of the bench. It enables viewpoint discrimination under the false banner of order and decorum. And it must be struck down.
Jason and Thomas won. That matters. But until Erica’s rights are vindicated too, free speech in Norfolk County remains at the mercy of judicial discretion. We won’t let that stand.