A mother from Arizona who was recently detained for speaking at a public gathering filed a complaint on Tuesday, alleging that the city’s scheme to defend her imprisonment violates the First Amendment.
Head plaintiff Sarah Massie said in a statement that she wanted to teach her children the value of standing up for their rights and doing what is best. It’s crucial to stand up for what I’m teaching my kids, showing them that the First Amendment has greater power than any wishes of any federal official.
The incident in question occurred during the town of Surprise’s Aug. 20 City Council meet. Massie criticized the city attorney’s perform during the public forum.
During her testimony, Massie was cut off my Mayor Skip Hall, who accused her of “attacking the town attorney individually” and violating , rules , governing public meetings. After a brief exchange of words, Hall requested Massie’s arrest by the law enforcement official overseeing the appointment, despite her protests that the rules were “unconstitutional” and violated her” First Amendment right.”
The mother of Arizona was later detained and charged.
The complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, challenges the validity of Surprise’s” Council Condemnation Policy,” which forbids residents from making” charges or complaints against any City worker or body members.” Massie and co-plaintiff Quintus Schulzke, a Surprise citizen, allege the legislation “violates the First Amendment”.
The complaint claims that when Massie used her legal right to criticize officers at a City Council meeting, which is a right “high in the order of First Amendment values,” the Council Criticism Plan and Mayor Hall made sure she left the meeting in cuffs. ” That might be how authoritarian regimes treat state detractors, but it’s an affront to our Constitution”.
Defendants cite Arizona law, which, as summarized in the match, “permits members of the public to condemn members of a common system during a public comment period, providing that individual members of the public system may respond to criticism made by those who have addressed the common system.”
Hall, the city of Surprise, and Steven Shernicoff, the officer who arrested Massie during the Aug. 20 meeting, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression ( FIRE ) attorneys represent Massie. The First Amendment advocacy group indicated shortly after Massie’s arrest its plans to sue Surprise on her behalf, writing on X it would” see]the city ] in court”.
No American should be ordered to” stop talking” or be imprisoned simply for making up their minds at a city council meeting, according to FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh’s statement. Public officials are chosen to serve the people rather than to silence them.
Massie has requested that the court grant a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop Surprise from enforcing the Council Criticism Policy at upcoming meetings. She’s also asked the court to declare that defendants ‘ use of the policy against her during the Aug. 20 meeting “violated ]her ] First Amendment rights” and that the rule “violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments”.
Shawn Fleetwood is a graduate of the University of Mary Washington and a staff writer for The Federalist. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
