Background
Darbi Boddy attended a Xenia Community Schools Board meeting to speak during public comment. She criticized the school board and superintendent for their handling of critical race theory issues, using terms like failing and cowardice. Board President Mary Grech interrupted Boddy, threatened to cut her microphone, and eventually removed it, causing the meeting to recess. Boddy was not given time to finish her remarks. She sued under Section nineteen eighty-three of Title forty-two of the United States Code, alleging First Amendment violations. The district court denied her motion for a preliminary injunction, finding the record too close to call and that she failed to show irreparable harm.
The court’s reasoning
The Sixth Circuit reviewed the case de novo and found that Boddy’s speech was protected by the First Amendment. The court rejected the district court’s characterization of the speech as an ad hominem attack, noting that criticism of public officials regarding their policy decisions is core protected speech. The court held that the board president’s actions constituted viewpoint discrimination because she silenced Boddy due to her critical views. Additionally, the court found that the board ratified a heckler’s veto by silencing Boddy in response to crowd hostility rather than protecting her right to speak. The court concluded that Boddy demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits and that irreparable harm was presumed when constitutional rights are threatened.
The government may not censor speech merely because it is offensive to some.
Ison v. Madison Loc. Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ., 3 F.4th 887, 894 (6th Cir. 2021)
What it means going forward
The decision mandates that school boards and similar limited public forums cannot silence speakers based on the content or viewpoint of their speech, even if it is offensive or provokes a hostile crowd. It requires officials to protect speakers from hecklers rather than silencing the speaker to maintain order.