The right to picket

District Judge Michelle Leavitt last week denied without comment a request by Costco attorney Sharon Nelson to ban Erik Scott supporters from “protesting or picketing” the company’s Summerlin store.

Mr. Scott, 38, was killed July 10 by Las Vegas police upon exiting the store. His family and friends contend decisions made by Costco employees led to the death, and they express suspicion about the store’s contention that video equipment which might otherwise have recorded the event was not working that day.

In court papers, Ms. Nelson said she read about the possible protest — which ended up drawing four picketers to a corner near the store at Charleston Boulevard and Pavilion Center Drive — on a Facebook page dedicated to Mr. Scott.

Earlier last week, after six days of testimony, a coroner’s inquest jury found the three officers who shot Mr. Scott were justified in their actions.

Scott family spokeswoman Lisa Mayo-DeRiso said the family has turned its attention to Costco employees, particularly Shai Lierley, who called police to the store out of concern over Mr. Scott’s erratic behavior.

So have some of the hundreds of members of the “In Memory of Erik Scott” Facebook page, people over whom Ms. Mayo-DeRiso said the Scott family have no control, and who apparently seek to have Costco fire Mr. Lierley.

The Scott family has indicated it intends to file a civil lawsuit against the Metropolitan Police Department and Costco.

Backing away and calling police when a customer who appears to be inebriated is also seen to be armed, and then acts strangely when told of the company’s “no firearms” policy, is hardly an improper or irrational action.

Whether a store with such a firearms policy should have prominent signs posted to advise members of that policy is a valid question. The question of whether the evacuation of the store on July 10 served to make the situation more volatile and dangerous has also yet to be settled.

What is not subject to debate is the right of interested parties to stand on a public sidewalk near the store to exercise their right of free speech. Costco and its employees may find the protest mildly unpleasant. The company may believe it’s unfair. But Judge Leavitt ruled correctly.