High Court Backs Florida Man Arrested at City Council Meeting

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court revived a lawsuit by a man who says he was arrested at a south Florida city council meeting in retaliation for his longstanding criticisms of local officials.

The justices, voting 8-1, said the City of Riviera Beach may have violated Fane Lozman’s rights even if officials had legal grounds to arrest him for refusing to stop speaking at a 2006 council meeting.

The ruling may entitle Lozman to a new trial on his retaliation claims. A jury sided with the city in 2014 after the trial judge said Lozman had to show that officials lacked legitimate grounds to arrest him.

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net

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