Quick Hit: Free speech at school board meetings

Judge in Wyoming case rules board violated First Amendment

A federal judge recently ruled that a Wyoming School Board was in violation of the First Amendment when it came to public comments.

The Institute For Free Speech (IFFR) issued a press release on Oct. 28 in the case of Pollak v. Wilson, et al.

IFFR has been backing parent Harry Pollack in his lawsuit against the Wyoming Sheridan County School Board in which he accused the board of violating his First Amendment rights by censoring his public comments.

The case goes back to a February 2022 board meeting where Pollak tried to ask the board about past statements made by the superintendent at another board meeting. Per IFFR, “the board chair cut him off, claiming that mentioning the superintendent violated the board’s rule against discussing ‘personnel matters,’” and the chair told Pollak to stop talking while the superintendent called the police to remove him from meeting.

Judge Alan B. Johnson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming granted summary judgment to Pollak. IFFR’s press release explains some of the detail of the order:

Last Friday’s order held that while boards may restrict discussion of genuine personnel matters, using such policies to broadly exclude all speakers who mention individual employees is “unreasonable and unconstitutional.” The court also held that the board chair, Susan Wilson, violated the First Amendment by invoking the personnel rule to stop him from making critical comments.

The order permanently enjoins the board from enforcing its policy to exclude speakers solely for referring to individual employees and awarded Pollak $17.91 in nominal damages, the symbolic amount referencing the year of the First Amendment’s ratification. The court also ordered the board to pay Pollak’s costs and attorney’s fees.

As the judge’s order explained, “enforcing the Policy against Mr. Pollak because his comments were ‘critical’ but not enforcing it against others whose viewpoints were positive constitutes viewpoint discrimination, which is a violation of the First Amendment.” He added that the policy “also runs into constitutional hot water because it is enforced unpredictably.”

The key point on this case is that the Sheridan board has a policy in place that does not allow public commenters to criticize members of the board, staff or others. Multiple North Carolina districts have this same type of policy, including the state’s largest district of Wake County.

IFFR’s press release also notes that the Pollak win follows another case where judges have ruled school board policies placing limitations on public comment are unconsitutional. That case was Moms for Liberty v. Brevard County.