NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals has partially reversed a 2007 district court ruling in a case involving the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the city of Houston, according to a press release.

According to the release, the lawsuit was filed in 2006 by the SEIU and claimed that three Houston city ordinances to process various parade and protest permits violated the First Amendment right to free speech.

The union filed the suit after they applied for permits to hold parades and rallies in support of a strike, but only received partial approval from the city under sound, parade and parks ordinances, the release stated.

While a district court ruled partially in favor of the claims made by the SEIU, the ruling by the Court of Appeals affirms in part and reverses in part the lower court ruling to move further toward invalidating the city ordinances, the release noted.

According to the release, Circuit Judge Leslie H. Southwick writes in the decision that the court found unconstitutional the Sound Ordinance's two-permits-per-thirty-days limitation, the Parade Ordinance's time limitations and all the Park Ordinance's permitting requirements.

The case was remanded back to the lower courts for further proceedings, the release added.

Click here to read the complete release.

For related information, click here.