How Not To Behave In Court

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week will consider whether federal law is clear enough in outlining what constitutes illegal behavior in courtrooms. The case stems from an April 1, 2015 incident in which five men and women were arrested for postponing U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments by speaking or singing, in protest of the Court’s Citizen’s United ruling. This year, a federal judge ruled that the part of the law criminalizing disruptions at the Court was unclear. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said the protesters could not be charged because the law states that making a “harangue” or “oration” at the Court is not allowed – two words that Cooper said were unconstitutionally vague. Federal prosecutors are fighting to reinstate “harangue” and “oration,” claiming those words have clear meanings that the public would understand.