Security guards acted within their authority by requiring a woman to disclose which courtroom she was going to as a condition of entering the federal courthouse in Denver, a judge has ruled (article available here).
Tiffany Grays missed a court hearing in her civil case last fall because two court security officers, identified as CSOs Lee and Garcia, would not let her through without answering a "courtesy" question about her destination in the courthouse. Garcia then told the magistrate judge overseeing the hearing that Grays was belligerent, prompting a rescheduling of the proceeding.
Grays, who is representing herself, alleged that the denial of access infringed upon her rights to free speech and due process. However, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martínez flatly rejected those claims in an order last week.
"There is simply no precedent to support Plaintiff’s position that the First Amendment prohibits a government officer from requiring a person entering a government building to answer basic questions about her business there," Martínez wrote.