On November 21, the Liberty Justice Center sued to protect the First Amendment rights of a North Carolina man who has been forcibly silenced at public meetings of his local county board of commissioners.
James Campbell began attending the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners’ public meetings in December 2023. During the public comment period of the meeting held on April 15, 2024, Mr. Campbell was one of many Cabarrus County residents who asked the Board to investigate reported corruption within the local Department of Social Services (DSS) and Department of Child Protective Services (CPS). He was also one of many residents whose requests for an investigation included concerns about the actions of particular county officials.
When Mr. Campbell said these county officials’ names, the Board claimed that he had violated the Board’s participation policy by “naming names” and ordered him to be removed from the meeting.
Mr. Campbell asked to see a copy of the participation policy—and stated that, until he received a copy of the policy, he would continue to exercise his First Amendment rights to free speech and to petition the government. Rather than provide a copy of the participation policy, the Board ordered deputies to remove Mr. Campbell and banned him from attending its meetings for the next 90 days. No other speakers who named officials’ names were removed from the meeting.
At the meeting’s conclusion, a Board Member asked to see the comment policy because, if it did not actually ban “naming names,” then the Board had acted wrongfully and “owed an apology” to Mr. Campbell. Shortly afterward, the same Board Member asked, “Is the policy legal?” Another Board Member skirted the question, stating that there is a “fine line” to enforcing the policy, and concluded that the policy’s purpose is the prevention of targeted personal attacks against county employees.
In the months since the meeting, Mr. Campbell has made multiple verbal and written requests to see the policy—including an official records request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)—but the Board still has not provided one. Instead, it has only provided a copy of the document authorizing the Board to develop a participation policy.
The Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit argues that the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners’ purported participation policy, as well as the removal and ban of Mr. Campbell for mentioning the names of public employees, violate the First Amendment rights to free speech and to petition the government.
“Government officials cannot restrict the public’s right to free speech just because government employees don’t want to hear criticism. The First Amendment protects all Americans’ fundamental rights to discuss matters of public concern at public meetings, to criticize the actions of government officials, and to petition the government for redress of grievances,” said Buck Dougherty, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “We are proud to take a stand for Mr. Campbell’s rights, and we ask the Court to hold the Board accountable for abusing the First Amendment to stifle criticism of county employees.”
“The Board of Commissioners violated my free speech so they could avoid public criticism and accountability. But I know my constitutional rights and I’m ready to fight this abuse of power,” said plaintiff James Campbell. “This lawsuit is not just to vindicate my rights—it’s a fight to prevent this Board’s policies from stifling and silencing other Cabarrus County residents.”
Campbell v. Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina on November 21, 2024.
The Liberty Justice Center’s legal filings in Campbell v. Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners are available here.