Federal judge declines to drop free speech lawsuit against Colorado Springs police

Colorado Politics: It is possible that Colorado Springs officers violated a man’s First Amendment rights when they arrested him for screaming obscenities at police, a federal judge decided.

As a result, the civil lawsuit from Michael Sexton will proceed, based in part on one officer’s admission that he arrested Sexton simply for saying the F-word repeatedly.

“Under at least one view of the facts that a reasonable jury could adopt, Defendants’ actions violated Plaintiff’s clearly established constitutional rights by arresting Plaintiff for engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martínez in a Jan. 19 order.

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