Karen Read protesters' buffer zone is valid but lower court should revisit ruling, appeals judges say
A panel of appeals judges have vacated, but not reversed, an order finding that the Karen Read trial buffer zone for protesters is valid and constitutional.
The appeals court is now sending the case back to district court to revisit the buffer zone to see if the rules can be tailored in a way that allows peaceful protests.
"Read's case has become something of a cultural phenomenon. It has drawn headlines, controversy, and, as relevant here, throngs of demonstrators near the Norfolk County Courthouse (the "Courthouse")," the judges wrote in their ruling.
"The prior behavior of some of those demonstrators -- including loud protests and the display of materials directed toward trial participants -- frames a potential conflict between the state court's effort to conduct a fair trial and demonstrators' right to express their views."
"With Plaintiffs' position now clarified, we think it prudent to vacate (but not reverse) the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction and remand this case for further proceedings to determine how the Order has been interpreted and applied."
Appeals court: Buffer zone should be revisited
A group of "Free Karen Read" supporters sued Judge Beverly Cannone and Massachusetts State Police in federal court in April, arguing that a court-ordered buffer zone violates their First Amendment free speech rights. A federal court ruled against them, saying the buffer zone did not violate their rights.
Protesters have had to stay hundreds of feet from the courthouse during the current trial. In the April ruling, the judge said the buffer zone is "content neutral, narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest and leaves open ample channels for communication."
The group of "Free Karen Read" supporters then appealed the decision. In their appeal, they said they aren't challenging the ban on protest on courthouse property. They also said they don't plan to demonstrate on the paths where trial participants enter and exit. They want to demonstrate on public sidewalks that are "quintessential public forums for free speech."
Who is Karen Read?
Read is accused of hitting and killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV outside a home in Canton back in January 2022 and leaving him to die in the snow, where his body was found hours later.
Read's attorneys claim she is the victim of an elaborate coverup and that O'Keefe may have been killed inside the home during a fight and his body later dumped in the snow outside.
Read's first trial ended in a hung jury.
