Do you seriously think that “free speech” allows you to do whatever you want in public when the event is being run by the government? So, following this logic, if you want to attend a press conference given by the governor of your state, you can stand up in the middle of it and heckle him and the state can’t have you leave?
I mean, seriously. The ability to speak freely is always able to be restricted as to time and manner. Even place of speaking can be limited.
jimmmy, yes, as I’ve already pointed out, the remedy for the potential breach of contract would be a claim for damages resulting from breach of contract.
However, please note that the contract goes beyond just, “I pay you $x and you let me watch/participate.” There are probably explicit parts to the contract (see, for example, the back of a ticket to a major league game), as well as implied parts of the contract. A court might well conclude that there is an implied understanding that, should you engage in abusive or otherwise unacceptable behavior, the property owner can have you removed, without breaching the contract. To some extent, things like this are often posted on signs around the event, similar to the signs in bars and restaurants warning that you can be asked to leave at any time.
As for the SDMB, you will note that, when you sign up, you agree to abide by a list of rules of conduct. Failure to abide by those rules will result in membership privileges being revoked. This one isn’t even a close question.
Yes, DSYoungEsq, reasonable time place and manner restrictions are allowed. Do you contend that yelling at a basketball game is in any way unusual? So should everyone who yells at a basketball game be evicted, or only someone who yells something derogatory about the coach? Do you see a problem with the government trying to make that distinction? (Hint: the phrase “content neutral” should spring to mind.)
Maybe not . . . but remember the OP. Can the state make you leave if the guy NEXT TO YOU starts to heckle the Governor. I think that that is what is being missed in a lot of this analysis. I understand that you can be thrown out for no reason whatsoever, but does it make a difference if someone else did the act you were removed for?
Of course. Better to have a lifelong memory of a futile but satisfying stickin’ it to the man than a lifelong memory of “Oh, it was so unfair and I just took it like a lubed-up sheep at Homecoming.”
Um, don’t you understand that it isn’t what they are saying that gets them booted? Do you think that, if they were quietly saying the same things they would be booted? Do you comprehend that it’s the manner of their expression, not the content that causes the trouble?
Or, to make it more clear, if they stood up and loudly began reciting the phone book, do you think they wouldn’t be booted?
DSYoungEsq, have you ever been to a basketball game? It ain’t a library. Or a tennis match, for that matter. People yell. That’s sort of the point - to get the fans excited. If the game is any good, hollering should be more or less a constant.
I suppose the OP can come back and tell us whether or not the entire crowd was being hectored into silence, or whether everybody was yelling and the comment in question was singled out because it was critical of the coach.
I assume the latter is the case, and if so, the action of the schoool officials was not content-neutral.
If you want to argue that this is not protected speech, you would be on firmer ground arguing that calling the coach a “crybaby” constitutes “fighting words,” which may be beyond free speech protection. Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire The guy who was doing the yelling would do better to stay away from the personal insults and stick to criticizing coaching decisions if he wants to stay within the protections of the First Amendment.
I need to do no such thing. The words aren’t what resulted in the removal, rather the actions. I see you completely ignored my point about someone sitting in the stands and simply saying, not shouting, epithets about the coach. If the issue were the content, they would be asked to leave. That’s not what is happening.
I’m not debating this dead horse any longer. If you can’t see that the content of the speech isn’t what triggered the action, I can’t help you, I’m sorry.
DSYoungEsq, have you ever been to a basketball game? It ain’t a library. Or a tennis match, for that matter. People yell. That’s sort of the point - to get the fans excited. If the game is any good, hollering should be more or less a constant.