ACLU: Lawsuit over mayor’s Facebook blocks settled

Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt. File photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News

WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by two Woonsocket residents who said the city’s mayor violated their First Amendment rights when she deleted their critical posts from her Facebook page and then blocked them has been settled.

The American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday that under a stipulation filed in court, Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt agreed to no longer block people from her page based on First Amendment-protected viewpoints.

The city also agreed to pay $7,000 in fees and court costs.

A city attorney said last month when the federal suit was filed that Baldelli-Hunt had already unblocked the constituents.

 

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