Town threatens people who make harmful ‘statements’ with defamation actions

A small Michigan town is gaining widespread attention in a battle over free speech because it threatened lawsuits against residents whose “statements” cause “harm to the city.”

Bangor, Michigan residents face the threat of a policy on supposed defamatory speech that the city passed after criticism of city official Justin Weber over him working as both the chief of police and city manager at once, MLive reported. The city claims some unidentified residents falsely stated he takes “two paychecks,” leading them to initiate a crackdown on speech; a crackdown which critics call unlawful.

“My mission is accountability, transparency and I want to give Bangor back to its people,” Steve Honeycutt, who is now running for mayor, told MLive. Honeycutt reportedly kickstarted the controversy in recent months by filing public records requests with the city and publicly criticizing Weber for working his two top city jobs simultaneously.

Weber did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation. Honeycutt could not be reached.

Bangor’s city council passed a motion in January allowing the city attorney “to file [civil] charges with the court against all parties involved in statements that have caused harm to the City.” Officials have said that multiple residents are making false claims about Weber’s salary, without naming Honeycutt, as well as “burdensome” records requests, according to MLive.

Weber issued a statement on Jan. 23 attempting to clarify the policy, saying the city “supports free speech to the maximum extent allowed by law.”

“The Council authorized the City Attorney to take action against speakers who knowingly lie about the City by filing actions to stop or enjoin the lies and by seeking to recover amounts [of money] equal to the damage caused to the City by the lies,” Weber said.

Critics, including a national free speech advocacy group, have called the policy illegal, because (among other things) government entities historically cannot sue for defamation. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in particular didn’t buy Weber’s explanation. The group told the city council in a February letter that the Constitution only allows individual people to sue for defamation, citing Supreme Court rulings.

Enforcing Bangor’s new policy “would violate the First Amendment, which completely bars government entities like the City of Bangor from suing for defamation,” FIRE wrote.

“If Bangor officials believe a constituent has made a false statement about the City, they can publicly condemn the statement, express disagreement, or say why they believe it inaccurate,” the letter reads. “What they may not do is sue or otherwise punish the speaker.”

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