A Florida judge quoted 'Game Of Thrones' in his latest ruling on free speech
"A wise man once said a true history of the world is a history of great conversations in elegant rooms," wrote Florida circuit judge Robin S. Rosenbaum, quoting popular "Game of Thrones" character Tyrion Lannister from an episode in season 6.
The seventh season of the extremely popular HBO fantasy series premiered on July 17.
In the case, former police officer Anthony Rodriguez claimed that he was fired from his job in Doral, FL in 2009 after he expressed support for a political candidate opposed to the city's mayor, Juan Carlos Bermudez.
The case ultimately made it to the Florida appeals court, where Rosenbaum and two other judges concluded that the police officer was unlawfully pressured to leave his job.
"Whether or not that may be accurate, a true history of the United States would be incomplete without a history of great political conversations, wherever they might have occurred," wrote Rosenbaum after quoting Lannister at the start of his ruling.
The court ultimately found that threatening someone with loss of employment necessarily impedes on their rights to free speech.
In "Game of Thrones," Tyrion Lannister is the dwarf son of one of the most powerful and rich families in the fantasy world Westeros. Often on the receiving end of prejudice, he frequently uses his stature and pedigree to stick up for underdogs.