Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a California Republican group’s appeal against a private entity’s cancellation at a Pasadena-owned Pasadena venue. The event was scheduled to have included a conservative lawyer who later aligned himself with President Donald Trump.

Pasadena Republican Club appealed against a lower court decision that found attorney John Eastman had been cancelled. This ruling, according to the U.S. Constitution, prohibits government discrimination on religious or free speech grounds.

Trump was unsuccessful in his attempt to reverse the loss of 2020 by overturning it based on fraudulent claims of widespread fraud. Eastman had a hand in this.

The Maxwell House is a Pasadena property that was leased to the Western Justice Center. This non-profit organization focuses on conflict resolution. The Maxwell House can be rented for weddings and other events.

Pasadena Republican Club wanted to lease space so Eastman might appear as a speaker. But the Western Justice Center cancelled the event due to Eastman’s opposition to gay marriage and other extensions of LGBT rights.

Eastman was at that time a Chapman University School of Law professor. Eastman was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The National Organization for Marriage. This organization actively opposed legalizing homosexual marriage.

The 2018 Republican Club lawsuit was brought by its lawyers. They claimed that the First Amendment applies because the Western Justice Center is effectively an arm government, based upon its leasing of city property. San Francisco’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in February against the Republican group

Trump’s affiliation made Eastman more prominent. Trump’s supporters were addressed at his rally, where he spoke before the January 6th riot at U.S. Capitol.

Eastman wrote another memo outlining his opinion on how Mike Pence, the then-Vice President, could stop Trump from being officially certified as a loser in 2020. Pence did not follow Eastman’s instructions. After the riot, Eastman resigned from his position at Chapman University amid widespread criticism.