Fighting to protect free speech in Vermont

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https://www.acluvt.org/en/news/fighting-protect-free-speech-vermont

 

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October 17

 

Yesterday the ACLU of Vermont and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed a motion for summary judgment in Vinson v. Clark, et. al., a lawsuit on behalf of Brattleboro resident Isabel Vinson.

Vinson was criminally cited by the Brattleboro Police Department in June 2020 for her online criticism of a local business owner’s derogatory Facebook posts about the Black Lives Matter movement. Vinson asserts that the statute she was cited under—which “prohibits disturbing peace by use of telephone or other electronic communications”—unconstitutionally restricts online speech.

ACLU of Vermont Staff Attorney Harrison Stark: “Isabel Vinson spoke up about an important political issue in a non-threatening Facebook post. That simple action never should have resulted in a criminal citation. The state law in question is both vague and extremely broad in scope and is a recipe for abuses like this.”

Vinson is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont to declare that the “Online Disorderly Conduct Law” violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and to issue an injunction prohibiting its enforcement going forward.

A motion for summary judgment requests that a court decide a case based on evidence and statements presented in court filings—without a full trial—on the grounds that there can be no real dispute about the relevant facts. Find a link to the motion here. Stay tuned for further updates on this case. 

 

 

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This case won't take long.