Giuliani was right; and these guys were idiots.
=====From Yahoo News======
Judge: NYC Erred in Racist Float Firings Wed Jun 25, 3:41 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - A federal judge has ruled that the First Amendment rights of
two firefighters and a police officer were violated when the city fired them for
riding in blackface on a parade float in 1998.
The government "may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because a segment of society finds it offensive," U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo said in his ruling Tuesday.
I'll be sure to look for an American Nazi float at the Gay Pride parade...Sprizzo rejected statements by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani that the firings stemmed from concerns over civil unrest, saying he concluded that the "true motivation" was Giuliani's belief that the float was a "disgusting display of racism."
I think Giuliani's fears were well founded. After all, people will riot over stupid things, like whether their basketball team wins or loses a championship.Kate O'Brien Ahlers, a spokeswoman for the city law office, said, "We will definitely be appealing this."
Those on the Labor Day float
threw watermelon and fried chicken to paradegoers and made it appear as if one of the men in blackface was being dragged — not long after the highly publicized case of James Byrd Jr., a black man in Texas who was dragged to his death from a pickup truck, city officials said.
Sprizzo ruled after hearing evidence earlier this year, including testimony from Giuliani, who said he urged the firing of the three city employees because he feared the controversy might lead to race riots.
At the time, Giuliani publicly declared, "They will be fired."
The white employees — firefighters Jonathan Walters and Robert Steiner and police officer Joseph Locurto — sued the city to get their jobs back.
They testified that they had no racist intent and that their actions were protected by the First Amendment because the float was a parody. Of what? Idiocy?The firefighters said they meant to poke fun at their predominantly white community's racist views with the "Black to the Future 2098" float. They said they used stereotypes, such as the blackface and Afro wigs, because that's the way community residents perceived blacks.
I don't buy it. That dog won't hunt.In earlier years, floats in the parade similarly mocked Hasidic Jews, gays and Asians.
WTF? 
What neighborhood is this? Chris Dunn, a staff attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the ruling "sends a message that city employees can't be scapegoated to serve a mayor's political agenda and that's exactly what happened here."
Giuliani was listed as a defendant in the case in his role as mayor. A call requesting comment was not immediately returned by his spokeswoman.
Michael N. Block, a lawyer for Walters, said he and his client were "very pleased."
Robert Didio, a lawyer for Steiner, said he was "absolutely thrilled."
"It shows that the little guy can fight back," he said. "This was unfortunately a situation where Mr. Steiner did something foolish and he recognizes that. But the penalty imposed by the mayor and the fire commissioner was not consistent with the actions on the float."
