St. Paul, MN - The ACLU-MN filed an Amicus Curiae brief on behalf of Mr. James Stengrim, in support of his First Amendment rights. Mr. Stengrim was sued by the Middle-Snake-Tamarac Rivers Watershed District, a local government entity, for expressing an opinion critical of the District’s flood control plans. Mr. Stengrim and other land owners opposing the flood control project filed suit against the District in 2002. At that time a settlement agreement was reached and one provision of it forbade the land owners from challenging the project again.
Consistent with the agreement, Mr. Stengrim has not filed a legal challenge since, but remains an outspoken critic of the District’s plans. Further, he has filed several requests for District documents related to the project. In response, the District is now attempting to silence Mr. Stengrim by suing him for breach of the settlement agreement, arguing that his outspoken criticism and data requests constitute a new challenge to the project.
Under both the United States Constitution and Minnesota state law, Mr. Stengrim and all citizens have a right to freely express their opinions without fear of punishment or reprisal. The District acts in contravention of that right, seeking to intimidate its critics through lawsuits. Under Minnesota law, Mr. Stengrim may seek the dismissal of any civil suit that seeks to silence lawful speech or action aimed at government action, but the lower courts have refused to apply that law.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has now agreed to hear the case and the ACLU-MN is urging them to protect the First Amendment. Our inalienable rights to free speech may never be signed away by contract or quashed by lawsuit. Mr. Stengrim has upheld his end of the settlement agreement, but the District seeks to ignore the laws and silence their opponents. The ACLU opposes such unconstitutional tactics and will always work to defend all people’s rights to speak freely without fear of punishment.