Small-town politics land city manager in Supreme Court

Watch any local newscast anywhere in the United States, and there’s a recurring theme: the hardball nature of local politics. This intersects with the fact that social media is a given in our lives, and all sorts of legal issues are being generated. One of these just arrived in the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s an important case for public employees—and for everyone else as active citizens.

City manager gets on Facebook

James Freed became the city manager of Port Huron, Michigan, in 2014. The city is picturesque and located in the thumb of Michigan, boasts a historic downtown district, and is across the St. Clair River from Canada. But all was not well in Port Huron.

Freed used his personal Facebook page to post both items about his life (family, pets, home improvement project, Bible verses) and information about the city, especially COVID-19-related matters.

One post that showed Freed buying takeout from a local restaurant caught the eye of Kevin Lindke.

Lindke commented on the Facebook page that while city residents were suffering, its leaders were eating at a “pricey” restaurant. In his opinion, city leaders should be reaching out to citizens, not reaching for a to-go bag. The comment didn’t sit well with Freed, who blocked Lindke and four other citizens from the Facebook page.

So what’s the problem?