Illinois local officials might sue after being insulted
From Sunshine Review
August 21, 2009 Superintendent of Gurnee-based Warren District 121 Phil Sobocinski and board President John Anderson said they intend to sue if the insults they received at a recent meeting count as defamation of character.[1]
[edit] Public meeting
The superintendent and board president of Warren Township High School might look into legal action against a man who they say made "unflattering comments" about them at a recent public meeting.
Superintendent Phil Sobocinski and board President John Anderson said will look into whether the Tuesday meeting's confrontation included defamation when a retired instructor gave a 3-minute spiel. Retired Warren instructor Rick Bryan included words such as "cheating," "deception" and "illegal" in his speech.
Bryan was bringing up a controversy involving the school requiring juniors to meet tougher academic standards before taking an annual achievement test.
Sobocinski plans to consult an attorney about whether to seek legal action against the public meeting commenter. A First Amendment lawyer, Donald Craven, doubts he would get far in the process. Craven said under a state law, the public has more leeway when speaking at government meetings.[1]
[edit] Raising comments
One issue that attracted some of the public comment Tuesday was an Illinois State Board of Education position saying that District 121 treats students differently for testing purposes. In a July letter, Illinois claimed Warren was violating state and federal requirements and must halt its new testing procedure.
Bryan filed a distinct complaint about Warren with the state. He said Sobocinski "shouldn't get a pass for cheating" and referred to the district's "illegal practice" that prevented roughly 150 juniors in high school from taking the Prairie State Achievement Exam last April.
According to Warren officials, nothing improper occurred because, they say, the juniors did not meet the 11 required credit hours in time or the higher standards for English, math or science. Therefore, they could not take the achievement testing that included the ACT college entrance exam.
After the public comment time ended, Anderson responded to Bryan.
"I take personal offense to people standing in front of me calling me a liar," Anderson said. "I'll tell you right now, if I find out that in any way is slander, I will prosecute to the full extent of the law. I'll tell you that right now."
A few minutes later, Sobocinski had his own message for Bryan.
"I take exception to all those things," Sobocinski said. "I will check with my lawyer to see if any of those remarks were scandalous or slanderous and I will pursue legal action, because they were unwarranted."
The state’s Citizen Participation Act would make any legal action difficult, according to Craven. The act lets attendees of government meetings to have much leeway when participating during public comment sessions.
"It is in the public interest and it is the purpose of this act to strike a balance of the rights of persons to file lawsuits, speak freely, associate freely and otherwise participate in government," says the state law.
The act requires a public official to pay the defendant's legal costs if the defamation or similar lawsuit fails. The castalyst of the act were lawsuits against public participation filed elsewhere.
Craven suggests that “those who are sensitive to public criticism should not be in an elected position or on a government payroll”, The Daily Herald reported. Craven recently ignored local residents' stings when he was an official for a Springfield-area water district.
"Most people have the 'water off a duck's back' philosophy," he said.[1]
[edit] External links
- School Board website
- Warren Township High School website
- "Warren High fighting state agency's accusations over student testing" on Illinois State Board of Education website
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Insult a Warren High official at a meeting? You might be sued," The Daily Herald, August 19, 2009
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