Arizona judge dismisses charges against mother arrested for criticizing officials at City Council meeting

A judge on Wednesday dismissed a criminal charge against an Arizona mother who was arrested at a city council meeting for criticizing a public official, calling her arrest “objectively outrageous.”

Maricopa County Judge Gerald Williams dismissed with prejudice the trespassing charge against Rebekah Massie. On August 20, the mayor of Surprise, Arizona, ordered a police officer to detention Massie during the public comment section of a city council meeting after Massie criticized a proposed salary increase for the city attorney. The mayor claimed that she was violating a rule against filing complaints against city officials during public comments, and when she refused to stop speaking, she was forcibly removed and arrested.

“No branch of any federal, state, or local government in this country should attempt to control the content of political speech,” Williams wrote in his dismissal order. “In this case, the government did it in an objectively scandalous way.”

After his arrest, Massie quickly filed a First Amendment Lawsuitwith representation from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), arguing that the city council’s speech policies were unconstitutional and that city officials unlawfully retaliated against her, violating her First, Fourth, and 14th rights. Amendment.

However, the threat of criminal proceedings hung over his head.

“For over two months I have been living with the threat of punishment and jail time (including having my children taken away from me) for doing nothing but criticizing the government,” Massie said in a FIRE. Press release. “Free speech still matters in America, and I can’t express what a relief it is to have people on my side defending our rights with me.”

Massie is a community activist and founder of a non-profit organization, The great failurewhere he advocates for greater transparency and infrastructure improvements in the city. She was represented in her criminal case by Feldman Royle attorney Bret Royle.

“Rebekah should never have been arrested, much less criminally charged, for speaking her mind,” Royle said in the news release. “That’s the kind of thing that happens in tyrannical countries but should never happen here. No American should face prison time for exercising their freedom of speech, and we are relieved that the court agreed.”

The Supreme Court has ruled that criticizing public officials, including using foul or vulgar language, is fundamental speech protected by the First Amendment. In public forums, such as when a city council invites public comment, governments can place reasonable restrictions on the time and manner of expression, but they cannot discriminate against certain points of view.

However, similar cases of small-town tyrants continue to appear.

Last year, for example, an Iowa man filed a First Amendment lawsuit after he was arrested twice for criticizing his city’s police department during public comment periods of city council hearings. The city council had a policy similar to Surprise’s that prohibited “derogatory statements or comments about any individual.”

In 2022, FIRE also sued on behalf of Eastpointe, Michigan residents who were He screamed and prevented her from speaking. by the city’s mayor during a public meeting. The city apologized and rescinded its policy limiting comments “directed at” elected officials.

The judge’s decision to dismiss the charge against Massie with prejudice means prosecutors will never be able to refile it. State prosecutors argued unsuccessfully that Williams should not see the video of Massie’s arrest, which shows her repeatedly and correctly claiming that the city’s policy is unconstitutional.

“The defendant should not have faced criminal prosecution even once for expressing her political opinions,” Williams wrote. “The Court agrees that she should never face criminal prosecution for again expressing her political opinions on that date and at that time.”

Conor Fitzpatrick, an attorney for FIRE, said in a press release that Massie’s lawsuit against Surprise will continue: “We want to make it very clear to governments across the United States that blatantly censoring people and betraying the First Amendment comes at a cost.” .

Surprise City did not immediately respond to a request for comment.