News item from 2008:
Weise and Young were among three people, referred to as the "Denver Three,"* removed from the museum before Bush started speaking. They had obtained tickets for the taxpayer-financed event from a local congressional office, but when they pulled into the parking lot in a car bearing the bumper sticker "No More Blood For Oil," they were pegged as potential troublemakers by White House staff.
The White House has a policy of excluding troublemakers — even potential troublemakers — from appearances by Bush. Daniel ruled that previous courts had allowed a restriction of speech at presidential events.Such behavior was a concern at the time and no matter what side you are on politically, it should then and now send up a red flag on First Amendment grounds. As Justice Ginsburg (joined only by Justice Sotomayor, who has had a fairly consistent liberal record so far) noted today:
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.As the Supreme Court rules on video games and such, it will allow this restraint of "potential troublemakers" stand.
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* This is a common technique (particularly by lefties) to give catchy names that harkens back at least (probably longer) to Vietnam days and is a tad too cute.
BTW, the photo is from here, which provides further discussion of the case with some quotations from the dissenting opinion below.