Federal Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction: Attorney General's Investigator Barred From Pressuring Bloomington Resident Over '86' Post
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on October 20 in the case of Lee Lawmaster, a resident of Bloomington in Monroe County, Indiana, who was confronted at his home by an investigator after posting an '86 Todd Rokita' comment on the state attorney general's official Facebook page; the ruling was reported on October 21. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker found that Lawmaster is likely to succeed on his claim that Kurt Spivey, investigations director for the Indiana Attorney General's Office, displayed a badge at his home, warned he could be indicted, and offered to 'let this one slide' if he toned it down, amounting to coercion through threats of legal sanctions to silence him. The injunction prohibits Spivey from coercing Lawmaster or threatening him with legal sanctions intended to suppress or punish his past and future political posts containing '86'. The judge also denied Spivey's motion to dismiss and rejected his immunity defense, allowing Lawmaster's damages claim against Spivey personally to proceed. The encounter followed Lawmaster's May 1 comment on Attorney General Todd Rokita's official Facebook page. Lawmaster said '86' meant removing officials from office and was political expression; after the visit he stopped posting '86' comments and made his personal blog inaccessible to the public. The lawsuit was brought by the ACLU of Indiana, and the injunction is preliminary relief while the case continues.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Wikimedia Commons，公有领域（Nyttend 摄影）；图中为 Bloomington 的 Monroe 县法院。
