A Carson City courthouse dress code that prohibits biker "colors" is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday, August 26th, overturning a Northern Nevada judge's ruling and finding that motorcyclists can wear "biker colors," even those with swastikas, inside the courthouse.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tentatively canceled a ruling by U.S. District Judge Philip Pro and ruled that a ban on such garb in a Carson City court building violated First Amendment rights of expression.

Circuit Judge William Fletcher, writing for a three-judge panel, said restrictions that led to the arrests of motorcyclists who refused to take their jackets off at the courthouse were unreasonable.

The ruling applies to areas of court buildings except for courtrooms where, Fletcher said, judges can impose restrictions to ensure "a reasoned resolution of issues."

But he said there was nothing to show that extending a ban on biker clothing to hallways or other non-courtroom areas "can plausibly be justified by the need to protect the courtroom environment itself."

The judge also said there's no evidence to conclude that, "clothing indicating affiliation with biker organizations is particularly likely to be disruptive or intimidating."

Citing 1985 and 1971 U.S. Supreme Court cases on First Amendment rights, Fletcher added it's not reasonable "to prohibit speech in courthouse hallways merely because it may offend some people's sense of decorum." There was no evidence of any danger created by the bikers' jackets and so the rules seem to be "impermissibly motivated by a desire to suppress a particular point of view," the judge said.

The controversy began with the March 2001 arrests of Scot Banks and Steve Dominguez of Reno when they appeared at the courthouse to contest a traffic citation and were told by security officers that they couldn't wear their swastika-decorated Branded Few M/C club colors inside. After refusing to remove their vests or leave, they were arrested for trespassing and their vests were confiscated.

Two weeks later, ten other bikers were cited for the same offense when they came to the men's hearing to show their support and also refused to take their jackets off or leave the premises.

Those cited wore vests that carried a variety of symbols, including an angel over the background of a Christian cross and the American flag.

One of those bikers, Rick Eckhardt of the Christian motorcycle club His Royal Priesthood, told the Reno Gazette-Journal that the dress code discriminates against motorcycle riders by limiting what they can wear in a public building. "It's very important that we're able to enter the federal building and the courthouse, especially if we have a hearing to go to or need to go to court in support of one of our friends," said Eckhardt. "We just want the same rights everyone else has to go to court and be heard."

They all pled innocent and then challenged the constitutionality of the court's dress code rules before going to trial on the trespassing charges, said lawyer Kevin Karp, who is representing the bikers on the criminal charges. Karp is the Northern Nevada A.I.M. (Aid to Injured Motorcyclists) Attorney, and serves as legal counsel to the Northern Nevada Confederation of Clubs.

"The court did the right thing," said Karp, who has contacted the District Attorney to request dismissal of the trespassing charges in light of the federal court's decision. "This issue has started to arise in other parts of the country where courthouses are trying to ban biker apparel, and we hope this decision stops those restrictions dead in their tracks."