A Cape Coral resident removed from a city council meeting is suing the City of Cape Coral, the city’s mayor and its council members.The lawsuit filed on March 20, claims Scott Kempe’s First Amendment right to free speech is being violated. Kempe joined a Committee of the Whole meeting on October 11 to discuss changes to Jaycee Park, and decided to protest.“I got so frustrated hearing the comments of both the mayor and the city council and their obvious total rejection of all that they had heard. I decided to turn around in my seat,” Kempe said.Mayor John Gunter asked Kempe to sit down and said he would be removed if he did not stop kneeling on his seat.“As the mayor and the city council had chosen to turn their backs on us. I chose to turn my back on them,” Kempe said. Cape Coral police officers removed Kempe from the meeting. Kempe said he tried joining other city meetings but was forced to leave.“In three different occasions, my rights continued to be violated where I was not permitted to return,” Kempe said. “The rule said that subsequent to respond to expulsion, to return to that meeting, the city council would have to vote on me. It said nothing about subsequent meetings.”Kempe filed a federal lawsuit against the city, accusing the city of banning him from future council meetings. Governments cannot categorically ban people from open meetings under the First Amendment, let alone arrest people for peacefully attending an open meeting. After the County prosecutors properly dismissed Defendants’ retaliatory arrest, the Defendants continued to assert they could still categorically ban Kempe from attending future Council meetings, and they have even amended their Council rules to further empower themselves to ban people from Council meetings in violation of the First Amendment.Scott Kempe vs. City of Cape Coral“You can’t ban someone from all future speech because of one occurrence or some past issue, regardless of whether or not it was problematic,” Attorney Matt Miller-Novak said. Kempe also filed a preliminary injunction on March 26, asking the city to stop enforcing rules banning members of the public from open meetings based on past conduct while the case is pending.The lawsuit says Kempe is “entitled to injunctive relief, declaratory judgment, compensatory damages, nominal damages, attorney fees, and costs.”Kempe and his legal team hope this causes change for future meetings.“He wants to be able to hold the public officials in the City of Cape Coral accountable for their actions,” Attorney Derrick Eihausen said.NBC2 reached out to the City of Cape Coral, but the city said it does not comment on pending litigation, however, the city said its previous statement released months ago still applies to the case.The Mayor and City Council have enacted Rules that govern the manner, process, and procedures to be utilized during the City Council Meeting in order to promote an orderly system of holding such a public meeting and conducting the official business of the City. In that regard and to ensure compliance with these Rules and the orderly conduct of business by the City Council, an individual is not permitted to behave in a disorderly manner, make profane gestures, or refuse to follow the instructions of the Mayor or City Council which seek to ensure compliance with the Rules that govern the City Council’s official proceedings. Therefore, an individual’s refusal to comply with the City Council Rules will give rise to that person being escorted from the City Council Meeting Chambers by the Cape Coral Police Department. City of Cape Coral
A Cape Coral resident removed from a city council meeting is suing the City of Cape Coral, the city’s mayor and its council members.
The lawsuit filed on March 20, claims Scott Kempe’s First Amendment right to free speech is being violated. Kempe joined a Committee of the Whole meeting on October 11 to discuss changes to Jaycee Park, and decided to protest.
“I got so frustrated hearing the comments of both the mayor and the city council and their obvious total rejection of all that they had heard. I decided to turn around in my seat,” Kempe said.
Mayor John Gunter asked Kempe to sit down and said he would be removed if he did not stop kneeling on his seat.
“As the mayor and the city council had chosen to turn their backs on us. I chose to turn my back on them,” Kempe said.
Cape Coral police officers removed Kempe from the meeting. Kempe said he tried joining other city meetings but was forced to leave.
“In three different occasions, my rights continued to be violated where I was not permitted to return,” Kempe said. “The rule said that subsequent to respond to expulsion, to return to that meeting, the city council would have to vote on me. It said nothing about subsequent meetings.”
Kempe filed a federal lawsuit against the city, accusing the city of banning him from future council meetings.
Governments cannot categorically ban people from open meetings under the First Amendment, let alone arrest people for peacefully attending an open meeting. After the County prosecutors properly dismissed Defendants’ retaliatory arrest, the Defendants continued to assert they could still categorically ban Kempe from attending future Council meetings, and they have even amended their Council rules to further empower themselves to ban people from Council meetings in violation of the First Amendment.
Scott Kempe vs. City of Cape Coral
“You can’t ban someone from all future speech because of one occurrence or some past issue, regardless of whether or not it was problematic,” Attorney Matt Miller-Novak said.
Kempe also filed a preliminary injunction on March 26, asking the city to stop enforcing rules banning members of the public from open meetings based on past conduct while the case is pending.
The lawsuit says Kempe is “entitled to injunctive relief, declaratory judgment, compensatory damages, nominal damages, attorney fees, and costs.”
Kempe and his legal team hope this causes change for future meetings.
“He wants to be able to hold the public officials in the City of Cape Coral accountable for their actions,” Attorney Derrick Eihausen said.
NBC2 reached out to the City of Cape Coral, but the city said it does not comment on pending litigation, however, the city said its previous statement released months ago still applies to the case.
The Mayor and City Council have enacted Rules that govern the manner, process, and procedures to be utilized during the City Council Meeting in order to promote an orderly system of holding such a public meeting and conducting the official business of the City. In that regard and to ensure compliance with these Rules and the orderly conduct of business by the City Council, an individual is not permitted to behave in a disorderly manner, make profane gestures, or refuse to follow the instructions of the Mayor or City Council which seek to ensure compliance with the Rules that govern the City Council’s official proceedings. Therefore, an individual’s refusal to comply with the City Council Rules will give rise to that person being escorted from the City Council Meeting Chambers by the Cape Coral Police Department.
City of Cape Coral
