Washington, D.C. – Liberty Counsel filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court in the case of Moore v. City of Asheville. The brief asks the Supreme Court to decide an issue that has split the federal appellate courts, concerning when a free speech claim may be filed in federal court where the state sets up administrative procedures to remedy the violation.

While preaching on the streets of Asheville, North Carolina, Mr. Carroll Moore was cited under the Asheville Code of Ordinances for “street vending or peddling.” Although Mr. Moore was not selling or soliciting, he paid the $50 fine. He was cited a second time under a different section of the Code and fined $100. Moore appealed the citation to the Noise Ordinance Appeals Board, which upheld the fine. Mr. Moore then paid the fine and filed suit in federal court, arguing that the city law violated his First Amendment rights. Rather than file suit in state court, Moore filed suit in federal court.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal court should abstain from deciding the case, even though Mr. Moore has no further remedy to pursue in state court. The court essentially ruled that so long as there was any potential remedy that Mr. Moore could have pursued by filing suit in state court, Mr. Moore should be required to exhaust any potential state proceedings before pursuing his claim in federal court. The Asheville City Code specifically stated that the ordinance should not be “construed to prevent or limit any person from seeking any remedy available in law or equity for activities that are or may be subject to regulation by this chapter, or from pursuing said remedy simultaneously with proceedings under this chapter, nor shall any of the procedures specified herein be a condition precedent to the initiation of any legal action.” The Fourth Circuit’s decision is similar to the Third and Eighth Circuits, but is in direct conflict with the Fifth, Sixth and Eleventh Circuits, as well as with a previous decision from the Fourth Circuit which would allow Mr. Moore to pursue his claim in federal court.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, which represents Mr. Moore, commented: “The importance of federal courts became clear during the Civil Rights Era, when state courts and administrative procedures were not sympathetic to civil rights claims. It is important that the doors of the federal courts remain open to redress constitutional wrongs. Otherwise, state administrative officials can create a maze for individuals to maneuver in an effort to wear down its citizens whose constitutional rights are violated. When the right to free speech is not remedied, all of our other rights are placed in jeopardy.”