WOONSOCKET – The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has settled its federal lawsuit on behalf of two men against Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt and City Treasurer Laurie Perry, the organization said Wednesday.
The lawsuit had alleged that the mayor had engaged in censorship via her Facebook page by blocking two constituents, Greg Duhamel and Thomas Dubois, because they criticized her or her policies. The ACLU had argued that the practice of blocking a constituent is unconstitutional, violating the First Amendment right to “to speak and to petition the government for redress of grievances.”
Facing the Holidays with a Cancer Diagnosis
The holidays are often painted as a time of joy, tradition, and togetherness. But for…
Learn More
As part of the settlement, the city of Woonsocket acknowledged that the two plaintiffs and all other accounts that the mayor had blocked have now been unblocked; agreed that no other users will be blocked from the mayor’s Facebook page “based on First Amendment-protected viewpoints expressed”; and that it will pay $7,000 in attorney’s fees and costs.
“The agreement reached recognizes the principle that a government official’s social media account is a public forum on which viewpoint censorship is impermissible,” David Cass, ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorney, said in a statement. “The First Amendment protections and the fundamental principles of speech, protest and redress must be protected as technological platforms for communication advance and change the way we interact as a society. The agreement acknowledges the mayor’s wrongful conduct in censoring the plaintiffs and others and reopens full access to the public to interact with her in her official capacity.”
