Supreme Court refuses to hear lawsuit over Trump lawyer's canceled speaking event: report

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the Supreme Court has declined to hear a case alleging that a nonprofit group and the city of Pasadena, California, violated the First Amendment rights of controversial pro-Trump lawyer John Eastman by refusing to host him for a speaking appearance.

United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit ruled earlier this year that the cancellation of Eastman's planned appearance did not violate the First Amendment.

Eastman, a longtime far-right activist who has pushed fringe legal theories about rolling back citizenship rights, is infamous for drafting the so-called "coup memo" outlining a theoretical way that former Vice President Mike Pence could have suspended counting presidential electors and given the House the power to declare Donald Trump the winner in 2020. Pence rejected this plan as illegal.

The case itself dates to 2017, when Eastman was trying to give a speech at the Maxwell House, city-owned property that is leased to the Western Justice Center.

"The Pasadena Republican Club had wanted to rent space there so Eastman could appear as a guest speaker, but the Western Justice Center canceled the event because his opposition to same-sex marriage and other expansions of LGBT rights ran counter to the group's values," reported Lawrence Hurley. "Eastman was a professor at Chapman University School of Law at the time. Eastman is the chairman of the board of the National Organization for Marriage, which was active in the fight against legalizing gay marriage."

Eastman ultimately stepped down from his professorship amid the national controversy over his appearance at the "Stop the Steal" rally ahead of the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.