Rosebrock v. Beiter is a First Amendment case on behalf of 68 year old veteran Robert Rosebrock. The ACLU challenges the Veterans Administration’s practice of forbidding him from hanging the flag union down as a distress signal protesting the VA’s failure to use its land for the care and shelter of homeless veterans, while allowing him and fellow protestors to hang American flags union up on the perimeter fence of the West Los Angeles VA facility. The case alleges that by discriminating between the two different flag displays, the Defendants have engaged in viewpoint discrimination.
Mr. Rosebrock has appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals the district court’s order denying in part and granting in part his motion for summary judgment. The district court concluded that Defendants had violated the First Amendment but denied Mr. Rosebrock’s request for injunctive relief on the grounds that it was moot and not in the public interest.
Case Developments
May 27, 2011
The Federal Court ruled that the Veterans Administration violated Mr. Rosebrock's free speech rights. Read more about the ruling.
March 16, 2010
The ACLU of Southern California sued the Veterans Administration for denying Army veteran Robert Rosebrock his free-speech right to protest the agency’s failure to use part of its property in west Los Angeles for the benefit and care of veterans. Read more about the suit.
