A free-speech lawsuit settled earlier today regarding an Iowa man who claimed he was “threatened by city officials with legal action for saying on a website that his hometown smelled like ‘rancid dog food.’” The man, Josh Harms, filed the lawsuit earlier this month in U.S. District Court in an effort to prevent “Sibley officials from suing him.” At the end of the day, the court sided with Harms and awarded him damages.
A free speech lawsuit settled earlier today regarding an Iowa man who claimed he was “threatened by city officials with legal action for saying on a website that his hometown smelled like ‘rancid dog food.’” The man, Josh Harms, filed the lawsuit earlier this month in U.S. District Court in an effort to prevent “Sibley officials from suing him.” At the end of the day, the court sided with Harms and awarded him damages.
Throughout the legal battle, Harms was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, but what happened exactly to result is such a legal battle? Well, it all began when Iowa Drying and Processing, a company that makes a “high-protein animal food supplement from pig blood,” set up shop in a vacant Sibley building in 2013. A couple years later, in 2015, Harms created a protest website and posted a comment on his website claiming Sibley “smelled like rancid dog food” from the processing plant. As a result of his comments, Daniel DeKoter, an attorney for the city, “sent Harms a letter saying the website was hurting the community and threatening a lawsuit if he didn’t stop.”
Harms pushed back against the threat and decided to file a lawsuit of his own, claiming the city was trying to silence his First Amendment right to free speech. When commenting on the matter, Harms said:
“Personally disagreeing with something that’s been written is understandable, but threatening the writer with a lawsuit while representing the government is censorship. It violates the First Amendment and our freedom of speech.”
He also added that the goal of his website is to help “improve the lives of Sibley residents by calling attention to the community’s problems.” In addition, he also said he had “bought the rights to ‘sibleystinks.com’ but hasn’t decided whether he’ll launch it yet.” For now, he’s continuing to work on his other website entitled, “Should You Move to Sibley, Iowa?”
Rita Bettis, the Legal Director of the ACLU of Iowa spoke in Harms’ defense as well, saying:
“The right of the people to freely and openly criticize their government is the very foundation of democracy. In America, the government cannot threaten legal action against someone for speaking out against it.”
The settlement was approved by Judge Leonard Strand and the terms were agreed to by both Harms and the city. However, according to the settlement, city officials did not “admit to every allegation in the plaintiff’s complaint.” Fortunately for Harms, though, the settlement “prohibits the city from making further threats…and allows Harms to talk to reporters and continue to publish websites critical of the odor issue.” In addition, Harms was awarded “$6,500 in damages and $20,000 in legal fees, and the city must hold First Amendment training for city staff,” according to court documents.
Sources:
Blogger wins free-speech lawsuit over calling town stinky
Smells like victory: Iowa man who complained about town’s ‘rancid’ odor wins free speech lawsuit
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