District Attorney Gonzalez and constituent settle Facebook freedom of speech dispute

By Joe Johnson

Deborah Gonzalez, district attorney for Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties, has reached an out-of-court settlement with a constituent who last month sued her in federal court for violating his right to free speech by blocking him from commenting about her on Facebook.

The lawsuit had alleged that comments posted by Watkinsville businessman Richard Miley had been removed from Gonzalez’s district attorney and reelection campaign Facebook pages.

“Defendant removed Plaintiff’s comments on certain posts on Defendant’s Facebook Page with no defined reason for taking such action,” the lawsuit stated, violating Miley’s “right to freedom of expression because she imposes viewpoint-based restrictions on (Miley’s) participation in a designated or limited public forum.”

The lawsuit had sought $2,500 to cover legal expenses.

Hours before a federal judge was to hear arguments on the matter Monday, Miley agreed to drop the lawsuit.

Gonzalez in a press release claimed that Miley settled for $1 rather than risk losing if the lawsuit were to have proceeded to judgment.

The man’s attorney, Kevin Epps, called the press release “absolutely false.”

He said, “Mr. Miley did not settle for simply one dollar. Instead he settled his lawsuit after Ms. Gonzalez admitted to blocking and deleting comments by the public on her social media pages and promising not to violate the 1st amendment again. Mr. Miley did not bring this lawsuit for money, but to stand up to the illegal actions of Ms. Gonzalez.”

The official Notice of Settlement reads as follows:

COMES NOW Plaintiff Richard Miley (“Mr. Miley”) and provides notice to the Court of a settlement between the parties under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 (“Rule 68”). In support of the settlement, Mr. Miley shows the Court as follows:

1)Defendant Deborah Gonzalez delivered an Offer of Judgment under Rule 68

on September 25, 2024. A true and correct copy of the Offer of Judgment and accompanying cover letter are attached as Exhibit “A.”

2) In the cover letter, Defendant Gonzalez assures that she has restored the First Amendment rights of her constituents:

Deborah Gonzalez has already taken the following actions related to all social media accounts she controls in her official capacity as District Attorney: (1) removed any limiting filters or bans of content or users; (2) ended any removal or deletion of comments; (3) provided full access to these social media pages for any user that the social-media service permits to use the platform. (Obviously, the Honorable Deborah Gonzalez does not control any social media platform’s policies regarding which users are permitted to use the platform.)

3) Based on the restoration of these constitutional rights, Plaintiff chose to accept the Offer of Judgment against Defendant Gonzalez. A true and correct copy of the notice of acceptance is attached as Exhibit “B.”

4) This notice of settlement is being filed pursuant to Rule 68(a), which requires that a party “file the offer and notice of acceptance, plus proof of service.”

5) Accordingly, Mr. Miley respectfully requests that the clerk enter the judgment against Defendant Gonzalez.

Respectfully submitted this 7th day of October, 2024.

/s/ Kevin E. Epps

KEVIN E. EPPS

Georgia Bar No. 785511