Halloran & Sage represented a municipality in a case where a protestor was arrested for criminal trespass when he refused to leave a meeting of board of selectmen as it went into private session. The protestor brought federal civil rights and state law claims against the Town and various officials. The District Court held that the plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment rights to be free of false arrest were not violated, and the arrest did not violate the protestor’s First Amendment rights. The Court also ruled that Connecticut’s open meeting law’s definition was not unconstitutionally vague and the arrest did not violate plaintiff’s equal protection rights. The defendant’s motion for summary judgment was granted.
Municipal & State Government