Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Douglas Co. Commissioner Over Free Speech Violations

A federal lawsuit has been filed against a Douglas County Commissioner who breached a settlement agreement he and his attorney entered into back in May of this year.

Douglas County Commissioner Kelly Robinson is being sued by Douglas County resident Brenda Bohanan over First Amendment violations, ones that were supposedly resolved in May before Robinson and his attorney, former Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, backtracked on the terms of the very agreement they drafted and negotiated.

In February of this year, Robinson blocked Bohanan on two Facebook accounts on which he conducted official business, prompting Bohanan to send a letter to Robinson, copying Douglas County Attorney Ken Bernard, requesting that Robinson unblock her on the basis of a number of court rulings – including one by the U.S. Supreme Court – which held that public officials cannot bar access to their accounts, even personal profiles, if the page or profile is used in an official capacity. When Robinson refused, Bohanan solicited the help of constitutional attorney Gerry Weber and Claire Norins of UGA’s First Amendment Clinic who sent a demand letter to Robinson on March 31.

Weber and Olens had a handful of back and forth discussions on negotiations and Olens ultimately drafted a settlement agreement on behalf of Commissioner Robinson to handle the matter outside of court. In the agreement, Robinson assumed no liability and admitted to no claims of wrongdoing, but agreed to paid Bohanan $750, to pay legal fees for Bohanan in the amount of $1,750 (for a total of $2,500), and to unblock and discontinue the practice of blocking and censoring citizens within 24 hours of the execution of the agreement.

Read more: https://allongeorgia.com/local-government/federal-lawsuit-filed-against-douglas-co-commissioner-over-free-speech-violations/