![]() ![]() ![]() The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has articulated a similar standard. The Court later characterized the First Amendment violation in City of Madison as occurring "when the meetings were suddenly closed to one segment of the public even though they otherwise remained open for participation by the public at large." … The Supreme Court has held that when a school board "sits in public meetings to conduct public business and hear the views of citizens, it may not be required to discriminate between speakers on … the content of their speech." City of Madison, Joint Sch. "Limited public forums (sometimes called nonpublic forums) include public properties that are not by tradition or designation public forums but have been opened by the government for limited purposes, communicative or otherwise." Government restrictions on speech in limited public forums must be "reasonable and viewpoint neutral." The parties here agree that the school board meetings at issue constitute limited public forums, and there is case law supporting that conclusion…. Plaintiff sued, claiming this violated the First Amendment, and the court allowed the case to go forward, despite defendants' qualified immunity defense: Stephen Probert of Hiawatha Elementary School. As a parent, plaintiff could communicate directly with Mr. The notice "immediately excludes from appearing on any Cedar Rapids Community School District premises effective January 10, 2022." The notice contained an explanation for the District's action, stating it was "a result of actions during the Novemand Decem … which included disruptive and threatening behavior towards school board members and staff." It further stated plaintiff's "actions interfere with our goal to maintain a safe, secure, and orderly District environment and violate District Policy 1007 'Conduct on School District Premises' and Regulation 1002.2 'Visitors to District' and Iowa Code Chapter 723 and 716.7(2)(a)" The notice also referred to Policy 1007's provisions that "busive, threatening, or inappropriate, verbal or physical conduct of individuals directed at … officials … will not be tolerated." The notice further stated plaintiff could communicate with District school board members in writing. On January 10, 2022, the District had a no trespass notice served on plaintiff. If you don't, we're comin'." Several attendees later led a "take a vote" chant. Plaintiff ended his comments as follows: "Take that vote tonight, Mr. Plaintiff's statements "did not violate any plausible rule of decorum for the meeting." Before and after plaintiff's comments, other attendees also criticized the district's masking and vaccination policy. The public comment time was not increased due to plaintiff's extended comments. Plaintiff again criticized the District's policies relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in his comments. The school board members and district employees did not register objections to this practice. Plaintiff spoke at this meeting and recruited other individuals to yield additional speaking time to him, leading to plaintiff speaking for about 29 minutes. On December 13, 2021, defendant District held another meeting. In their meeting, Bush did not express concern to plaintiff about his behavior during the board meeting the previous week. The complaint characterizes plaintiff's comments as "pointed" while refraining from "profanity, aggressive language, or any conduct that could be perceived as disruptive or threatening." During this time, he called defendant Borcherding "Miss Psychology," specifically stating "Miss Psychology down there doesn't want to seem to tell you people what's going on with our kids."Ī week later, on November 22, 2021, plaintiff met Noreen Bush-the then-superintendent of the District-at her office to discuss his complaints in more detail, bringing his wife and their son, and discussing the District's policies with Bush. Plaintiff spoke about his belief that the District's policies relating to COVID-19 were harmful to his child and others. Plaintiff attended the meeting and followed the procedures to speak at the meeting by signing up to speak during the public comment period and then speaking for his allotted five minutes. On November 15, 2021, defendant District held a school board meeting. Plaintiff … had a child enrolled at a District elementary school during the 2021-2022 school year. ![]() Iowa), the plaintiff's allegations (note that they are just allegations): School Dist., decided Thursday by Judge C.J. ![]()
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