A federal judge has ruled that the City of Newton violated a resident’s constitutional rights by arresting him twice during city council meetings in 2022. Chief Judge Stephanie M. Rose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa found officials improperly enforced a rule banning derogatory comments after resident Noah Petersen criticized local police and city leadership during public comment periods that October. Petersen was arrested for disorderly conduct at two meetings. A state court later acquitted him on charges from the first arrest, and prosecutors dismissed the second case.
Judge Rose concluded the rule and its selective enforcement violated Petersen’s First Amendment right to free speech, his Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable seizure, and his Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection. The court entered judgment on liability against the city and certain officials, rejecting qualified immunity.
An attorney with the Institute for Justice called the decision a significant step for government accountability, saying officials cannot use arrests to punish protected speech at public meetings. The nonprofit public interest law firm represented Petersen in the case.
Original story available here: https://ij.org/press-release/vindicated-court-rebukes-newton-iowa-officials-for-retaliatory-arrests-after-citizen-called-them-fascists/
