Okay, maybe a thousand lawsuits is a bit of an exaggeration, but a Utah judge ordered Salt Lake County to pay animal rights protesters over a couple of demonstrations that the activists tried to hold at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City in December 2004.
In both cases, police told the Utah Animal Rights Coalition activists that they did not have a legal right to hold their protests. Salt Lake County apparently had passed an ordinance requiring a 30-day notice to obtain a permit for a protest.
But the Associated Press reported in July that a judge has ruled that the county cannot apply that rule to small, impromptu protests like that organized by UARC.
Source:
Judge Orders SL County to Pay Animal Rights Protesters. KSL News, July 28, 2005.