Despite a ruling by the state's highest court that the Southborough select board violated a woman's free speech rights by shutting her down after she referred to a member as a "Hitler," local governmental bodies can still enforce rules of decorum as long as it's done in a content-neutral manner. The ACLU of Massachusetts…
In an age of division, the court ruled that towns could not mandate polite discourse at public meetings. One official called the decision “very dispiriting.”
On Tuesday, the justices in the state's highest court unanimously ruled that the "civility restraints" used by the town of Southborough to silence a resident in 2018 when she made critical comments of the select board are unconstitutional
The town of Southborough could not enforce its “public participation at public meetings” policy, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. After objecting to open meeting law violations and other municipal actions in a public comment session at a Board of Selectmen meeting, plaintiff Louise Barron was accused of violating the board’s civility code and eventually