West Valley Champion for Free Speech Paves the Way for Expanded Rights
Nothing is more fundamental to the First Amendment than peacefully addressing concerns to elected officials. West Valley cities are now revising council rules to better protect that right.
Rebekah Massie.
You might know her as the mom who was arrested, handcuffed and escorted out of a city council meeting in Surprise, Arizona.
“Massie spoke for nearly two minutes in opposition to a proposed pay raise for the city attorney, who she noted was already one of the highest-paid city attorneys in the state, before Surprise Mayor Skip Hall cut her off.”
-Reason.com | September 4, 2024
Body cam footage of Massie’s arrest - while her 10-year-old daughter was in attendence - is now public.
Since Massie’s August 2024 arrest, we’re finding cities across the West Valley working to abolish the same rule that landed Massie in the national spotlight.
Surprise City Council voted to scrap its rule banning the public from complaining against city workers during council meetings in September.
Here’s how other cities are looking to follow suit…
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
The Phoenix Police Department invites public feedback on its proposed “First Amendment Facilitation and Management” policy, which will guide the department’s approach to handling large community gatherings.
Community members can review the draft policy here and are encouraged to submit their input during a 30-day comment period, through October 27th. All feedback will be reviewed before the policy is finalized.
TONIGHT IN GOODYEAR, ARIZONA
On September 19th, we reported the Goodyear City Council had on its agenda for an executive session to discuss its Rules of Procedure.
Fast forward to tonight’s agenda in which Goodyear lawmakers might amend its “Meetings Rules of Procedure” as pictured below.
Staff report the “City Council Meeting Rules of Procedure were last adopted by Council July 9, 2018 and were last reviewed by Council on February 3, 2023. The deletion of the third sentence from 6.10(D) and all of Section 9.4(C) are the only changes at this time.”
Removing speaker restrictions is unlikely to change how the city enforces audience conduct during meetings. Goodyear officials have made their stance against audience disruptions clear. Before each meeting, the City of Goodyear plays a video explaining its 'Call to the Public' speaker rules and audience decorum policies. We’ve witnessed the mayor cautioning the public against audible reactions, even threatening to clear the room if necessary.
The public meeting of a board or council is considered a “limited public forum,” which means the government can regulate the time, place, and manner of speech. Boards and councils regulate speech through the adoption of rules of procedure and conduct.
-MRSC | 2020
Apart from crowd control, the government cannot restrict your speech simply because they don’t like what you have to say.
The First Amendment protects your right to express yourself and to testify before, petition, and protest the many branches and agencies of the local and federal government.
-ACLU | 2024
Goodyear’s proposed amendment to lift speaker restrictions allows for expanded criticism of lawmakers and city staff, and is included in the Consent Agenda—meaning it can be approved without any discussion by council members.
TONIGHT IN AVONDALE, ARIZONA
The City of Avondale, Arizona, also has an amendment on its Consent Agenda tonight regarding City Council Rules of Procedure. This amendment removes language stating, "It is inappropriate to utilize the Public Hearing or other Agenda item for the purpose of making political speeches, including threats of political action." The change also deletes this section…
The Avondale staff report states, “The original Council Rules of Procedure was adopted in 2002 and has been amended several times since then. The City periodically reviews its policies and procedures and makes amendments when necessary to reflect the continuously changing legal landscape.”
A changing legal landscape?
Amendment One to the Constitution was ratified on December 15, 1791.
“If the First Amendment protects anything, it protects criticizing government officials,” said FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick. “Arresting government critics might be how the world’s repressive regimes operate, but it has no place in America.”
FIRE | September 2024
JEN’S TWO CENTS
Massie has started a movement, indeed.
Recent amendments to speaker restrictions in cities like Goodyear and Avondale highlight ongoing tensions between maintaining order and protecting free speech during public meetings.
Rebekah Massie has a hearing date later this month for criminal charges related to her arrest at the council meeting in Suprise, Arizona. A group called You are the Power - in which Massie is a member - supports, “Rebekah and her constitutional right to free speech and to ask the Government to redress her grievances.” It’s running a campaign to have her charges dropped.
Additionally, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Surprise, Arizona rule forbidding people from criticizing government officials at city council meetings.
“No American should be told to ‘stop talking’ or go to jail simply for speaking their minds at a city council meeting,” said FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh. “Public officials are elected to serve the people — not silence them.”
FIRE | 2024
In doing more research, we’re finding Massie’s movement may extend beyond the city level… and into school boards.
For example, Liberty Elementary School District’s Call to the Public policy discourages personal attacks upon board members, staff and others in attendance.
Will speaker policies like this - drafted by the Arizona School Boards Association - need to be amended? (School districts across the West Valley use a variety of policy services. You can ask to see your district’s policy.)
As for tonight, we’ll watch the Liberty Elementary School District Board meeting… and its Call to the Public, in particular.
As you recall we reported earlier, board president Michael Todd resigned… leaving the board’s vice president to conduct tonight’s meeting.
At the top of the agenda - long before the Call to the Public - is a motion for the board to elect a new board president and vice president.
Lengthy comments are anticipated, however, after audio recordings surfaced, allegedly capturing the board's vice president making derogatory remarks about district administration and parents. Mr. Parks has no comment at this time regarding the recordings.
The core issue remains: the right to speak freely in a democratic process. As Justice Thurgood Marshall once said, “The freedom to speak one’s mind is not only an aspect of individual liberty—but essential to the quest for truth and the vitality of society as a whole.”
Today is your last chance to register to vote and have your voice heard in the November election.