[–]Bad_Idea_Bob0 points
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The city of Sibley agrees it will no longer threaten to sue a resident who criticized officials on his website for failing to stop the "rancid dog food" smell coming from a processing plant.
A federal district court Thursday issued a permanent injunction, ordering officials from the northwest Iowa town to refrain from suing — or threatening to sue — Josh Harms, who operates the Should You Move to Sibley, Iowa? website.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Sibley after an official sent Harms a letter in December asking him to take down his website within 10 days or face legal action.
Harms said it's his constitutional right to speak out against government officials, who he believes are not doing enough to remedy the odor coming from a pork blood processing plant.
Earlier versions of his website suggested people might not want to move to Sibley until city officials addressed the "horrible rotten-blood and stale-beer odor that hangs over the town."
Sibley resident Josh Harms created the website “Should You Move to Sibley, Iowa?"
ACLU/Special to the Register
The injunction, which the city agreed to, blocks Sibley officials from “directing Harms not to speak with reporters, threatening to bring a lawsuit, or actually bringing a lawsuit against" Harms.
Sibley also agreed to: Provide training on the First Amendment to city staff. Issue a written apology to Harms. Cover $20,475 in attorneys’ fees for the time the ACLU and its cooperating attorney spent defending Harms’ speech rights. Pay $6,500 in damages to Harms.
fuckin right. What dunce actually thought that lawsuit was a good idea?
fire everyone involved in making that decision and bar them from holding public office or even being employed by the state; not even as a janitor
[–] Bad_Idea_Bob ago (edited ago)
fuckin right. What dunce actually thought that lawsuit was a good idea?
fire everyone involved in making that decision and bar them from holding public office or even being employed by the state; not even as a janitor