Free Speech

C.J. Ciaramella | 9.4.2024 1:44 PM

Rebekah Massie says she wanted to teach her 10-year-old daughter a little bit about the importance of standing up for your civil rights when she brought her along to a city council meeting in Surprise, Arizona, on August 20.

Her daughter certainly learned a lesson. Massie was hauled out of the room in handcuffs and charged with trespassing after criticizing a city attorney's pay raise during the public comment period of the meeting.

On Tuesday, Massie filed a First Amendment lawsuit arguing the city council's speech policies are unconstitutional and that city officials illegally retaliated against her, violating her First, Fourth, and 14th Amendment rights. Massie is represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a free speech advocacy group.

"If the First Amendment protects anything, it protects criticizing government officials," FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick said in a press release. "Arresting government critics might be how the world's repressive regimes operate, but it has no place in America."

Massie is a community activist and........

© Reason.com