Speakers at public meetings can feel free to channel their inner revolutionaries now that the state’s highest court has ruled that Massachusetts law protects the right to be “rude, personal, and disrespectful to public figures.”
It’s part of our national heritage to be insolent when objecting to the workings of government, “as the colonists eventually were to the king and his representatives in Massachusetts,” the Supreme Judicial Court held in a 29-page unanimous decision this week.
The court ruling was prompted by a challenge to “civility restraints” adopted by the Southborough Board of Selectmen to keep discussion polite and used to silence a frustrated if discourteous resident in 2018.
This public participation policy, which required “that all remarks and dialog in public meetings must be respectful and courteous, free of rude, personal or slanderous remarks,” violated state civil rights protections, the court ruled.
Objection was already on the tip of her tongue when Southborough resident Louise Barron marched up to the mic at a December 2018 selectmen meeting grasping a sign that read “Stop Spending” on one side and “Stop Breaking Open Meeting Law” on the other.
The town “ha[d] been spending like drunken sailors,” she said, according to the SJC decision. Of the Southborough board, Barron said, their dozens of violations of the open meeting laws “is not the best you can do,” and “I know it’s not easy to be volunteers in town but breaking the law is breaking the law.”
Board member Daniel L. Kolenda interrupted, saying she was starting to “slander” the town officials. He announced the public comment period would close and the board would go into recess, at which point an outraged Barron said, “Look, you need to stop being a Hitler.”
Kolenda ordered the hearing ended and cameras turned off, the SJC said. He began shouting at Barron that she was “disgusting” and he would have her “escorted out” of the meeting if she did not leave. She left and later brought suit, appealing to the high court after a lower court dismissed her claims.
Barron’s language was permissible, Justice Scott Kafker wrote on behalf of the court, in part because it stems from a deeply held principle of public participation and assembly to demand that government redress grievances. Harkening back to the writings of John Adams and Samuel Adams, the court said Massachusetts’ civil rights protections remain true “to the spirit of the American Revolution.”
The SJC considered Article 16 and Article 19 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. The latter grants the right “to assemble, speak in a peaceable manner, and petition her town leaders for redress.”
There was a clear political statement in Barron’s remarks, the court noted, with the Adolf Hitler comparison suggesting “dictatorial” behavior. “Although a comparison to Hitler is certainly rude and insulting, it is still speech protected by art. 16,” Kafker wrote.
The free-market think tank Pioneer Institute and the American Civil Liberties Union filed “friend of the court” briefs in the case supporting Barron, and both celebrated the ruling. Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said freedom to criticize public officials directly “goes to the heart of what separates us from repressive regimes. This ruling is a crucial—and resounding—recognition of these values and legal principles at a time when free speech rights are threatened nationwide.”
There would, naturally, be some sort of outer limit for allowable speech. “Fighting words” which would be likely to provoke violence, are not protected speech, Kafker wrote, but “we further emphasize that elected officials are expected to be able to respond to insulting comments about their job performance without violence.”
It is perfectly reasonable, the court said, to have restrictions on when public testimony can occur or policies to remove a person who has become disruptive to others as long as the viewpoint of their speech is not being punished.
Other local government bodies may want to take a close look at their meeting rules. While it might sound like a supportive policy to insist, as Southborough did, that remarks be courteous, that kind of restraint is now clearly unconstitutional in Massachusetts.
JENNIFER SMITH
FROM COMMONWEALTH
Wu scores two wins: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu won two victories at the Boston City Council as the chamber approved by 11-2 votes her rent stabilization measure and a part of her proposal to reorient the city’s approach to planning and development. The measures now go to Beacon Hill for action. Read more.
Road ridership is back: While transit ridership continues to sputter, the state highway system is bringing almost as much revenue in tolls as it did prior to the pandemic. Read more.
OPINION
Not enough workers: Sonia Erlich, a psychotherapist with TEAM Up for Children at Boston Medical Center, says the shortage of mental health care workers is taking a toll. Read more.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Senate President Karen Spilka throws cold water on state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s plans to conduct an audit of the Legislature. (Boston Herald)
Jane Swift, the former governor, pens a great read about the surge of women in politics. She said the election of so many women is great, but, as it was when she was on Beacon Hill, “the world remains entirely too focused on hair, hemlines and husbands.” (WBUR)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Holyoke city councilors, the mayor, and the police chief vow to address shortcomings in the police department highlighted in a consultant’s report. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
Following Wednesday’s Boston City Council vote to advance a rent control petition, could Somerville be next? (Boston Globe)
A Berkshire Eagle editorial offers some advice to North Adams on how best to use a $750,000 federal grant to reimagine its downtown.
To comply with a law requiring the town to provide burial plots for residents, Saugus moves to expand the Riverside Cemetery. (Daily Item)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
The Globe has an exit interview with Marty Walsh as he prepares to leave President Biden’s cabinet for a lucrative job as head of the NHL players’ union.
Things got testy during a Senate hearing on Wednesday when International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O’Brien, who got his start at the union’s local in Charlestown, clashed with Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin, with both offering brawling words over the role of unions. (Washington Post)
ELECTIONS
Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan will seek reelection for a third term, The Enterprise reports, putting to rest rumors that he may hang up his hat after decades in city government as a city councilor and two-term mayor.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Online sports betting rolls out in Massachusetts on Friday, with seven sportsbook apps launching even as the state’s Gaming Commission works to address violations of the in-state collegiate team bet ban at all three casinos. (Worcester Telegram)
EDUCATION
A new bill before the legislature calls for layoff decisions in schools to consider factors other than seniority, in an effort to address disproportionate impacts on teachers of color. (MassLive)
Teachers and school staff vented frustration over a false active shooter alarm last month at Framingham High School, citing critical shortcomings and poor communication from Framingham school administrators. (MetroWest Daily News)
ARTS/CULTURE
Boston artists demand more rehearsal space. (WBUR)
TRANSPORTATION
Read it and weep: The MBTA added more slow zones to its already hobbled subway system last month. (Boston Herald)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox is bringing back a former BPD attorney to serve as his chief of staff, a move drawing heat from a state organization of minority police officers, whose leader says the lawyer, Nicole Taub, was “never really supportive of equity.” (Boston Globe)
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden drops charges against a Rhode Island man accused of drugging and raping a woman at a Boston hotel in November. Hayden’s office said it could no longer prove the charges. (WBUR)
MEDIA
The Pew Foundation is transferring its Stateline news service to States Newsroom and will provide a $3 million grant to ease the transition. (Nieman Journalism Lab)