Court Rules that Wearing Club Colors is not Free Speech

According to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, wearing your "cut" does not constitute a form of free speech.

The decision was brought out by a lawsuit filed by the Top Hatters Motorcycle Club, who wanted to wear their colors at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on July 30, 2000, but were forced to remove them...

Festival promoters had an unwritten dress code policy barring gang colors or other insignia, including motorcycle club insignia. When the cyclists refused to remove their vests, their admission fees were refunded.

The club members claimed in a lawsuit filed against the city of Gilroy and the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association in federal court in San Jose in 2001 that the vests were a form of free speech.

The court asked club members what the symbols on their vests represented, and got conflicting answers. The Court used this confusion to throw out the free speech argument.

Read the full article here...
http://www.ktvu.com/news/13228226/detail.html