The Dayton Daily News has provided coverage of a recent lawsuit by Engel & Martin, LLC on behalf of township residents alleging that their First Amendment rights were violated when a Township Trustee “blocked” them on Facebook.
The lawsuit is filed on behalf of five Hamilton Township residents who claim David Wallace Jr. violated the First Amendment when he blocked them from commenting on a Facebook page he uses for township business. . . .
The lawsuit is related to his management of a Facebook site where he interacts with residents about village issues, but which also features re-election materials. He also has another web page devoted to his campaign.
The article quotes Joshua Engel:
“Recently, a federal court in Virginia found that a local politician had violated the First Amendment when she temporarily banned a constituent from commenting on her Facebook page. This case raises substantially similar issues,” Joshua Engel, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit, said in comments posted on his law firm’s website.
A copy of the Complaint is available here.