How Much Is Defending The Bossier Council Going To Cost

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The Bossier City Council sought to launch a legal advisory opinion on the recent Term Limits petition and in at least two City Council meetings engaged in an adversarial exchange with Weston “Wes” Merriott and as we’ve previously reported have taken more and more aggressive actions to stifle free speech and public commentary during city council meeting citing “disruptive” behavior.

Now, we’ve listened to it and if this is “disruptive” then your typical Congressional hearing is a downright screaming match. *(Although can we pause for a second and acknowledge how much Wes Marriot sounds like Sen. Rand Paul?) But point blank, we already have serious allegations against Bossier City Council for violating Open Meetings laws brought forward by our esteemed colleagues at Bossier Watch and now we get to toss in a First Amendment violation on top of it, and the City’s legal woes may only be mounting. And all of it is just to protect the seats of the existing council.

According to KTBS, Merriott, an independent journalist for sobo.live, filed his lawsuit against the Bossier City Council in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, to prevent any" further assaults on the public’s constitutional right to free speech.”

Merriott named Council members Jeffery Darby, Jeffrey Free, David Montgomery and City Attorney Charles Jacobs as codefendants in the suit.

In a press release, he explained,

“A healthy democracy embraces criticism, welcomes questions, and values dissent. The First Amendment isn’t just a right; it’s a promise to the American people that their voices will always matter in government decisions.”

The Tulane First Amendment Law Clinic representing Merriott was represented by clinic director Katie Schwartzmann said in the release, “Public meetings are where our elected leaders make policy decisions and engage with citizens. The right to freely comment on policy and ask questions of elected leaders at those meetings is crucial to our system of self-governance. The actions of Bossier City officials limit public discourse on political issues important to Bossier citizens and are unconstitutional.”

In the text of the lawsuit, (you can read it below) Merriott makes the explosive charge: “Defendants’ actions violate the most basic tenants of a democratic society. Free speech is indispensable to the exchange of ideas that undergirds our system of self-governance. Citizens must be free to speak to their fellow citizens and elected officials on matters of public concern. Defendants have silenced core political protected speech. Plaintiff seeks intervention from this Court. Defendants’ policies governing the Bossier City Council meetings are unconstitutional facially and as applied. They are overly broad, vague, viewpoint and content-based restrictions on free speech in plain violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. They also violate the Louisiana Constitution and the Open Meetings Laws.”

Merriott is asking the courts to:

1) Stop enforcement of the unconstitutional acts;

2) Require adequate training for the council on First Amendment rights;

3) Amend the council meeting minutes to remove from the record the following: “Mr. Merriott became disruptive in his remarks”; and

4) Award damages, legal fees and costs.

By the time this is all said and done, Bossier City Council will likely have been better served just letting Mr. Merriott speak.

LocalMatthew HollowayLocal, Bossier