WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal from an anti-war protester who was convicted of violating the boundaries of a "restricted area" established during President Bush's visit to South Carolina in 2002.

Brett Bursey had urged the justices to hear the appeal of a $500 fine he was assessed for entering a restricted area at near airport hangar in West Columbia on Oct. 24, 2002. In July 2005, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Bursey's conviction in U.S. v. Bursey.

Bursey's lawyers said in court papers that he was exercising his free-speech rights when he carried a megaphone and a placard reading "No more war for oil, don't invade Iraq" into the restricted area.

His lawyers wanted the high court to limit the government's ability to expand restricted areas during presidential events.

The lawyers said the Secret Service allowed people to pass through the area and did not block it off. But the Secret Service only allowed people with tickets to the presidential event to stay in the restricted area. All others, including Bursey, were told to move along.

A Secret Service agent told Bursey he could protest in a designated demonstration area a half-mile away. When he refused to leave the restricted area, he was arrested.

The appeal turned away today is Bursey v. United States, 05-767.