By Brett Milam
Editor
State Senator Joe Uecker has settled with a Batavia resident for $20,000 related to free speech and Facebook.
Uecker is serving his second term as state senator, representing Ohio’s 14th state senate district. The district encompasses Brown, Adams, and Scioto Counties and parts of Lawrence County.
The complaint was filed by 27-year-old Robert Anthony Fambry of Batavia on Jan. 23 before Judge Michael Barrett in the Southern District of Ohio. Fambry sued Uecker on First and Fourteenth Amendment grounds, arguing Uecker deprived him of his free speech and due process protections.
Fambry alleged that Uecker prevented him from posting comments on Uecker’s official Facebook page and deleted previously posted comments.
The official Facebook page for Uecker is www.facebook.com/SenUecker.
“Defendant’s official page does not include a disclaimer or otherwise provide any limitation as to the topics or subject matter that may be discussed, what speech is subject to removal, or what online conduct may result in being banned,” the complaint said.
In short, Fambry argued that Uecker, acting in his official capacity as a State Senator and through his official page on Facebook, that page was essentially a public forum.
Fambry is also a constituent of Uecker’s and Facebook designates a user as such when they comment on a post with a statehouse badge next to their name.
The controversy stems from Uecker’s Dec. 28, 2018 post discussing the back-and-forth between the 132nd General Assembly and then-Governor John Kasich. The legislature sent a number of bills to Kasich, which Kasich then vetoed.
One such bill that was vetoed by Kasich and the override vote was narrowly defeated was the “heartbeat bill.” Uecker had voted to override Kasich’s veto.
“It is possibly the strongest piece of pro-life legislation I have had the privilege to work on in my fourteen years in the legislature. I look forward to once again taking up this issue in the 133rd General Assembly under a new Governor,” Uecker said.
The bill would have prohibited abortion at the first detectable heartbeat, which is as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Kasich said it would be declared unconstitutional and bog the state down in a costly court battle, according to NBC News.
Fambry commented on Uecker’s status, “Shame on you, who are you to decide what a woman does with her body. Get your evangelical beliefs out of law. Science disagrees with you. The Supreme Court disagrees with you. America disagrees with you.”
Then Fambry added in an edit, “The Senator decided to block me instead of debating with me.”
Uecker did post with his personal Facebook account in the comments, “Sorry your judgmental disbeliefs are bothering you. I’m just trying to save babies from being killed.”
Fambry responded, “Joe Uecker no babies are being killed, you’re flat out wrong. Science has shown this. Also, are you not familiar with Roe v. Wade? That bill was 100% unconstitutional.”
Uecker responded, “Anthony Fambry – loose [sic] the emotions, get your facts straight then come back to the conversation.”
Fambry replied, “I believe I’ve been quite courteous here, can you answer the question Joe?”
At that point, Fambry was banned from Uecker’s Facebook page. When a user is banned from an official page like that, they are still able to view the page, but unable to comment.
Fambry wasn’t the only one critical of Uecker’s support of the legislation. Additionally, other comments were supportive of Uecker’s stance.
“In banning Plaintiff and others from his Official Page and in deleting comments that were critical of comments posted by Defendant on that site, Defendant’s decision to ban some individuals, including Plaintiff, and deleting some comments from the Official Page, discriminated against Plaintiff and other users on the basis of their viewpoints and the content of their comments,” the complaint stated.
In relief, Fambry was demanding a temporary restraining order or preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Uecker from continuing to ban and/or block Fambry; compensatory damages; and an award of attorney fees.
Within two days of the filing, Uecker unblocked Fambry.
By Feb. 13, Uecker had settled with Fambry.
Fambry’s comments were not seemingly deleted; rather, when a user is blocked on Facebook, their comments are hidden on the page from viewing. When Fambry was unblocked, his comments appeared again.
Uecker denies that he violated Fambry’s constitutional rights and by entering the settlement agreement, does not admit to any wrongdoing, according to the settlement.
To “avoid the uncertainty and expense of further litigation,” Uecker and Fambry desire to resolve fully and finally “all remaining issues and disputes between them involving this lawsuit,” the statement said.
The settlement agreement is effective until Uecker is term-limited, which is on Dec. 31, 2020.
In the settlement, Uecker agreed to the following:
– To not block Fambry from viewing and commenting on Uecker’s official page unless Fambry engages in “threatening or harassing behavior or other conduct that violates Facebook’s terms of use.”
– To pay Fambry $20,000 within 45 days of the agreement.
John Fortney, spokesperson for the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus, said in an email to The Sun that all member professional pages and caucus pages have been reviewed to make sure there are no blocked accounts.
He also issued the following statement, “The issue was resolved almost immediately by simply unblocking the user, and wasn’t worth litigating long-term. As always, there are multiple ways for Ohioans to communicate with the General Assembly and we look forward to hearing from them.”
The Sun could find no social media policy or “best practices” for Uecker, or the State Senate Republican Party. When The Sun asked Fortney if such a guideline existed for either Uecker or the State Senate Republican Party as a whole, he did not include an answer in his statement.
Fambry gave The Sun his statement after the settlement, “I urge everybody to get active and engage with their local politicians even if they disagree with you. These politicians work FOR us. To anybody who has been blocked on social media by their local politician, reach out and speak up. Don’t just let them get away with it. I’ve had countless people reach out to me across the state sharing their story and asking how I did it.”
His statement continued, “I want EVERYONE to have their voices heard, I don’t care what your stance is on any particular subject. The moment we start silencing people, that’s the moment we silence democracy. It goes against the core fundamentals of what it means to be an American.”
Fambry said he has no legal background, and has been active in politics since the 2016 election cycle.
“When I was blocked, I remembered hearing about other cases similar to mine across the country … did some research on those cases to see if it would be a good point of reference,” he said.
He debated it for two weeks before reaching out to the American Civil Liberties Union. They were overloaded, Fambry said, and referred him to Robert Newman, a Cincinnati based lawyer.
“They knew the case would be open and shut and they were right,” he said.
The Sun contacted both Uecker and Renata Staff and Halli Watson, attorneys with the Constitutional Offices Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, who represented Uecker, about this story.
Dominic Binkley, the public information officer for Dave Yost, Ohio Attorney General, responded to The Sun’s inquiry on behalf of Staff and Watson. Binkley said they would defer to the Senate for comment on the settlement.
The Sun also inquired of the attorneys if they offer any sort of guidelines or “best practices” to the state’s politicians on using social media.
“As for your other questions, we advise our clients on legal matters as they arise. However, that is considered privileged information, so we cannot disclose it to the public,” Binkley said.