This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
City officials who banned an activist who was documenting – and criticizing – city operations from even entering city hall have been blasted by a judge for violating the Constitution's First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause.
The report comes from the Freedom Center of Missouri, which noted the years-long fight concluded just weeks ago.
The report said a trial was held in Phelps County Circuit Court in Rebecca Varney v. City of Edgar Springs, "a case in which small-town officials banned a resident from city hall for four years simply because she had persistently criticized the way the local government was run."
The result was a "sweeping victory" for Varney.
The center explained, "The judgment included blunt words for the defendants in finding that they had violated Varney’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments as well as Missouri’s Sunshine Law."
"[T]he actions of defendants in this case, apparently seeking to intimidate and silence Varney from exercising her right to examine and be knowledgeable about the workings of her city government are disturbing, especially when considered in the context of the free and open democratic society in which we are purported to live," the judge said.
The center noted Varney’s lawsuit included three distinct constitutional claims and several additional claims based on Missouri’s Sunshine Law.
"The court had previously ruled that the city of Edgar Springs had violated Varney’s right to Due Process of Law and also that it had committed several purposeful violations of the Sunshine Law by refusing to properly respond to Varney’s requests for access to public records. As a consequence of these constitutional and statutory violations, the court has ordered the city to pay Varney $750 in penalties and also to pay the costs and attorney fees Varney accrued in litigating this case."
Varney first started watching city actions when she suspected police were "using traffic stops as a revenue-generating mechanism." Then suspicions about the misuse of grant funds and other money arose.
She routinely went to city hall to request documents and took her concerns to the state attorney general when officials insisted that to find some documents would take nearly a year.
At one point, while she was reviewing records, officials threatened to call police on her.
Eventually, officers handed her a "No Trespass" order banning her from city hall property, threatening arrest for a violation.
She then began requesting public records by certified mail.
Ongoing hostilities included the mayor suing her for taking pictures of him, a case that was dismissed, and the police blocking her from a Facebook page.
The judge said there was no "plausible" explanation for the city's punishment other than Varney's criticism. He concluded the facts show Varney "engaged in a range of activities protected by the First Amendment."
The ruling ordered the city to pay Varney nominal damages for its constitutional violations, as well as costs and attorney fees, which were estimated to total nearly $44,000.
