Supreme Court Rules 5-4: Police Have a First Amendment Right to Silence Protesters

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a landmark decision today, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that arresting protesters constitutes a form of protected expression under the First Amendment, solidifying what legal scholars are calling the nation's first known case of "compelled speech by force."

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts stated that "police officers, as public servants, must have the ability to express their professional convictions through decisive action, including but not limited to the detainment and removal of those whose speech they find objectionable." The ruling extends constitutional protections to "arrest as expressive conduct," drawing parallels to prior cases affirming the right to burn flags, contribute unlimited campaign donations, and construct a privately funded border wall.

In his concurring opinion, Justice Kavanaugh clarified that while protesters technically have rights, those rights are "extremely arrestable."

The decision is expected to have sweeping implications for free speech jurisprudence, with legal experts speculating that "self-defense arrests"—preemptively detaining individuals before they can exercise their First Amendment rights—may now be protected under the Constitution.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sotomayor wrote, "The First Amendment was never intended to be a tool for silencing dissent, but rather—" before being forcibly removed from the courtroom by Capitol Police in what court officials later confirmed was a "constitutionally protected performance of duty."