Fuller v. Salt Lake City, 775 F.Supp.3d 1212

In late May and early June 2020, following protests and civil unrest after George Floyd’s death, Salt Lake City experienced significant violence, vandalism, and property destruction.
Mayor Erin Mendenhall declared a state of emergency and imposed two curfew orders covering all public places in Salt Lake City, with certain enumerated exceptions.
Several plaintiffs were arrested or dispersed for violating the curfew while participating in protests; some alleged excessive force was used by law enforcement.
Plaintiffs sued Salt Lake City under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, raising claims based on the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
Both sides moved for summary judgment; the court granted the City’s motion and denied the plaintiffs’.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
First Amendment—Content	Curfew targeted speech about George Floyd, content-based	Curfew regulated conduct, not speech; content-neutral	Curfew was not content-based; intermediate scrutiny applies
First Amendment—Selective Enforcement	Curfew selectively enforced against protestors	Enforcement focused on public safety/violence, not speech content	No evidence enforcement was content-based; any selective enforcement was content-neutral
Overbreadth, Vagueness, Prior Restraint	Curfew was overbroad, vague, and prior restraint	Orders were clear, not prior restraints, and rescinded pre-suit	Orders were clear, not a prior restraint, and overbreadth claim invalid as orders were repealed
Fourth Amendment—Wrongful Arrest/Excessive Force	Arrests and force lacked probable cause or policy basis	Plaintiffs violated clear curfew; no policy directed force use	Arrests had probable cause; no city policy linked to force as alleged
Due Process	No public hearing before curfew imposed	Curfews were legislative/emergency, not adjudicative	No due process violation; legislative/emergency action excluded from hearing requirement

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (summary judgment standard)
United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (test for regulation of otherwise lawful conduct with incidental speech burden)
Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. 288 (intermediate scrutiny for time, place, and manner speech restrictions)
Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781 (content-neutral regulation of speech and intermediate scrutiny)
Devenpeck v. Alford, 543 U.S. 146 (probable cause for arrest standard)
Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Ass’n, 452 U.S. 264 (public health/safety justifies emergency action, due process exception)
Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (vagueness doctrine)