A small western Michigan town is receiving national attention after the City Council passed a motion allowing the city attorney to pursue legal action against “all parties” who make statements causing “harm to the city.”
The City Council of the City of Bangor, with a population of 1,900, unanimously passed the motion at a January meeting. It was passed in response to a claim that “has plagued the city” that City Manager Justin Weber receives two paychecks.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a national nonprofit that defends free speech, has since sent a series of letters to the city calling the motion an “unconstitutional threat.”
In the most recent letter, obtained by The Center Square and sent on Friday, the foundation said the Supreme Court has left “no doubt” about the unconstitutionality of the motion and urged the city to revoke it to avoid litigation.
“The prospect of the government hauling speakers into court for allegedly false criticism is repugnant to the First Amendment,” the letter said. “By maintaining this threat, the city risks costly and time-consuming litigation.”
The city argued it supports free speech to the “maximum extent allowed by law,” but that does not include “false statements that are defamatory.”
At a City Council meeting following the passage of the motion, City Attorney Scott Graham addressed concerns the City Council had received in response to the motion.
“What the city’s interested in doing is limiting false statements, especially statements that are knowingly false, that damage the reputation of the city, its elected officials, and its appointed officials,” Graham said. “Knowingly false statements that harm reputation or would be considered by a reasonable person to be defamatory – well, if someone’s going to utter those things, they need to know that the city doesn’t have to tolerate that.”
City Manager Justin Weber also released a statement in January.
“It could not be any clearer that the city supports the right to free speech,” Weber said. “It does not support the right to knowingly lie about the city and its representatives who are trying to conduct city business.”
Yet, even if limited in this way, the foundation still argues the motion is unconstitutional.
It stated in its first letter that the “First Amendment flatly prohibits government entities from bringing defamation actions, even against speakers who make knowingly false statements.”
Aaron Terr, the foundation’s director of public advocacy, addressed the situation in an exclusive interview with The Center Square.
He explained why the foundation decided to get involved with the motion.
“We saw that the city is planning to use taxpayer money to sue its critics. That’s a direct assault on free speech,” Terr said. “If the government itself could sue citizens for so-called defamation, that power could easily be weaponized by corrupt or vindictive officials to silence critics. It turns the exercise of free speech into a liability, and this is similar to how authoritarian regimes around the world use vague disinformation laws to stifle dissent.”
Terr said that the city has not yet officially responded to the foundation’s letters about the motion, but that, by sending a second letter, it is hoping for a response by March 28 to address its “legitimate concerns.”
He added that the foundation does not plan to back down until this issue is resolved.
“We do encourage any resident of Bangor to get in touch with FIRE if the city threatens to sue them over their speech,” Terr said. “Or if they feel like they can’t speak out on a particular issue because of the threat of being sued by the city attorney.”
The Center Square was unsuccessful, prior to this publication, of obtaining response from the Bangor City Council and city clerk.
