A lawsuit filed by an attorney who unsuccessfully ran as a Republican candidate for Illinois attorney general alleges state Rep. Charlie Meier violated the First Amendment rights of free speech of four citizens by blocking their critical comments on his Facebook page.
The suit was filed in Madison County court by attorney Tom DeVore on behalf of Jared Poettker of New Baden, Donald Moore of Troy, Sharon Williams of Belleville and Roger Respondek of Clinton.
Meier, a Republican from Okawville, could not be reached for comment Monday night.
The lawsuit doesn’t include specific comments that were critical of Meier, but DeVore said in an interview that one of the issues involves campaign donations by the Illinois Education Association, which is a union for teachers. DeVore said Meier has received $240,000 from the union since he took office in 2013.
The plaintiffs are not seeking any monetary damages from Meier but instead want a judge to order Meier to stop blocking critical comments, according to a copy of the lawsuit released by DeVore.
“Representative Meier cannot block critical viewpoints from the general viewing public and allow positive comments of him to remain visible for everyone to see,” DeVore said in a news release. “Meier’s actions are abhorrent to our constitutional guarantees.”
DeVore said in matters of constitutional rights, he’s not concerned with party loyalty.
“Whether somebody is a Republican or a Democrat or an independent, if people’s rights are being suppressed by any elected representative, I don’t care what party you’re from, I’m going to defend my client,” DeVore said.
DeVore lost to Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, in the 2022 election for Illinois attorney general. DeVore previously has filed lawsuits against Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker over executive orders issued regarding the COVID pandemic.
Meier represents the 109th House District in the metro-east. The Facebook page targeted in the lawsuit is titled “Charlie Meier IL State Representative.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March that public officials may be held liable when they block social media comments by the public. Its ruling, however, leaves open a distinction between whether an official’s posts constitute government business or are simply personal comments on public affairs.
The lawsuit alleges this page, which often features pictures of Meier at community events, is a “public forum” since Meier is an elected official.
The suit also alleges that Meier has “completely blocked” Poettker from having access to the page while the other three plaintiffs have had their comments “suppressed.”
In one post about a high school fundraiser in mid-April, the post indicates that 12 comments were posted but only five can be seen. Those five comments “offer only positive viewpoints about Meier,” according to the lawsuit.
“By deduction, Meier has suppressed seven comments made by members of the public. Each comment made by Donald Moore, Sharon Williams and Roger Respondek are one of those seven suppressed comments as each offered a critical viewpoint of Meier,” the lawsuit states.
The suit seeks a permanent injunction against Meier.
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