The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Salvador Reza, a Latino activist who came to the U.S. from Mexico illegally as a child in 1961 and became a U.S. citizen after he joined the Air Force, will be able to legally pursue his civil suit against former state Senate President Russell Pearce.

Reza charged that Pearce violated his First Amendment rights by declaring that he could not return to the Senate after an alleged disturbance occurred during a 2011 hearing on immigration legislation.

The 2011 hearing was a followup to the previous S.B. 1070 measure. Penned by Pearce, the measure gave state and local police additional powers to detain undocumented migrants. In response to the demonstration at the hearing, Pearce instructed security officers to identify and photograph the leaders of the protest and then deny them future entrance to the Senate.

When Reza, who was one of the protesters, returned to the Senate to meet with Sen. Steve Gallardo several days later, he was denied access. When Reza refused to leave, he was arrested. The county attorney's office never prosecuted Reza and the ban was eventually lifted. Reza, however, elected to sue.

As reported in the Arizona Daily Sun, Pearce, who is no longer in the legislature, revealed in his testimony that he enacted the ban out of concern for public safety.

Judge Milan Smith Jr., writing for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, said, "We are not persuaded by the senator's public safety rationale for his restrictions on Reza.''

Pearce responded to the decision by saying, "The circuit court has contempt for the law, it has contempt for the Constitution, they have contempt for citizens."

"Anything they do should not surprise anybody," Pearce added.

Speaking to NPR in 2008, Reza spoke of the anti-immigrant atmosphere that existed when he first came to the U.S., stating, "I still saw signs that said no dogs or Mexicans allowed in restaurants."

Noting the way things have changed, Reza said, "Today they're saying no illegal aliens allowed, but dogs permitted."