An Arizona mom recently arrested for speaking at a public meeting filed a lawsuit on Tuesday alleging the city policy used to justify her arrest violates the First Amendment.
“I wanted to teach my children the importance of standing up for their rights and doing what is right — now I’m teaching that lesson to the city,” lead plaintiff Rebekah Massie said in a statement. “It’s important to fight back to show all of my children that the First Amendment is more powerful than the whims of any government official.”
The incident in question occurred during the city of Surprise’s Aug. 20 City Council meeting. Massie used the public forum as an opportunity to criticize the conduct of the city attorney.
During her testimony, Massie was cut off my Mayor Skip Hall, who accused her of “attacking the city attorney personally” and violating rules governing public meetings. After a short verbal back and forth, Hall called on the law enforcement official overseeing the meeting to arrest Massie, despite her protests the guidelines were “unconstitutional” and violated her “First Amendment rights.”
The Arizona mom was subsequently detained and charged.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, the lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Surprise’s “Council Criticism Policy,” which prohibits residents giving remarks at public meetings from leveling “charges or complaints against any employee of the City or members of the body.” Massie and co-plaintiff Quintus Schulzke, a Surprise resident, allege the policy “violates the First Amendment.”
