Two Secret Service agents involved in the arrest of a Colorado man for supposedly assaulting Vice President Dick Cheney in 2006 have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The agents insist they are immune from a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Steven Howards, who touched Cheney on the arm while confronting him in the resort town of Beaver Creek over the Iraq war.

 

After being arrested and briefly jailed, Howards sued the agents for retaliating against him because he criticized Cheney.

 

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled earlier this year that Howards could sue the agents, Virgil D. “Gus” Reichle Jr. and Dan Doyle, prompting the agents to ask the Supreme Court to review the ruling.

 

Reichle, the agent who arrested Howards but did not witness the alleged attack, said in a deposition that two of his colleagues insisted Howards hit Cheney, but then changed their stories and said no assault occurred. Reichle also said that the vice president’s security people wanted the Howards arrest to go away so Cheney would not have to appear in court.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Secret Service Agents for Cheney Ask Supreme Court for Immunity from Lawsuit over Colo. Arrest (Associated Press)

Secret Service: Detailed Look at ’06 Turmoil (by Kirk Johnson, New York Times)

Arrested for Touching Dick Cheney—Lawsuit to Proceed (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)