Judge: Sheriff violated First Amendment with jail threat over COVID posts – Wisconsin Newspaper Association

A federal judge last week ruled the Marquette County sheriff violated the First Amendment rights of a teenage girl with whom he threatened arrest over her social media posts about COVID-19, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

The posts, which Amyiah Cohoon shared on her Instagram account in March 2020, detailed her experience with what she believed to be a case of COVID-19. Cohoon had been hospitalized shortly after returning from a school band trip to Florida. Though she tested negative, Cohoon said her doctors believed she likely had the virus previously.

A member of the Marquette County Sheriffs Office visited the Cohoon home on March 27 and said Sheriff Joseph Konrath had ordered the posts to be taken down due to the lack of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county. Cohoon complied but later sued the sheriff with support from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

U.S. District Court Judge Brett Ludwig on Sept. 24 issued his decision, writing that the First Amendment is not a game setting for the government to toggle offer and on. It applies in times of tranquility and times of strife. While defendants in this case may have believed their actions served the greater good, that belief cannot insulate them. Demanding a 16-year-old remove protected speech from her Instagram account is a First Amendment violation.

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Judge: Sheriff violated First Amendment with jail threat over COVID posts - Wisconsin Newspaper Association