JEREMIAH WALDROP, Individually; PHILLIP SELF, Individually v. City of Johnson City, Tennessee

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
File Name: 21a0385n.06
Case No. 20-6434
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
JEREMIAH WALDROP, Individually; PHILLIP
SELF, Individually,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
CITY OF JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE,
Defendant-Appellee.
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ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE EASTERN
DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
O P I N I O N
BEFORE: SUTTON, Chief Judge; COLE and READLER, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM. Street preachers Jeremiah Waldrop and Phillip Self sued the city of
Johnson City, Tennessee, alleging that the city authorized its police officers to move them from
the main grounds of an LGBTQ pride festival based on their anti-gay speech.
The plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction, and after conducting discovery the
parties cross-filed for summary judgment. The district court awarded summary judgment to
Johnson City, but did so on grounds the city had not advanced, namely, that the officers’ conduct
was a permissible, content-neutral restriction based on the plaintiffs’ blocking an entrance to the
festival. The court summarily denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction as well.

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Case No. 20-6434, Waldrop v. City of Johnson City
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On appeal, both parties agree that the district court erred in granting summary judgment on
grounds that neither party argued below. Because the district court did not consider the parties’
arguments and record evidence on an issue going to the heart of the plaintiffs’ claims, we reverse
the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Johnson City and its denial of the plaintiffs’
preliminary injunction motion and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this
opinion.

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