Kentucky school district enters social media consent decree after blocking critic

This article was originally published by Kentucky Lantern.

Following a federal lawsuit, a Kentucky public school district has agreed to not block users from its social media pages and refrain from “suppressing criticism” of the district’s policies or public positions. 

Pulaski County Schools made online posts last year opposing Amendment 2, the defeated constitutional amendment that would have allowed the Kentucky General Assembly to fund nonpublic schools.

The school system entered a consent decree earlier this month regarding its social media use after facing a legal challenge from Corey DeAngelis, a conservative commentator and “school choice” activist.

DeAngelis filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Kentucky against the school district in January after the district blocked him from its Facebook page in August. DeAngelis had criticized the district for using its official account to advocate against the ballot measure, which voters decided in November. DeAngelis suggested the posts might be illegal “electioneering.” 

In a phone interview, DeAngelis called the resolution of the lawsuit a “monumental victory for free speech rights for citizens all across the country.” He’s been unblocked by the school district and awarded $30,000 in attorney fees. He said the outcome shows school districts and other government officials “they need to watch out for how they’re handling these communications and, basically, what they can see from this case, is that they might have to pay a price.” 

“The biggest takeaway here is that other school districts, not just in Kentucky, but all across the country, will basically be put on notice to not try to put their thumb on the scale to silence dissent — either in person or on social media,” DeAngelis said. “So this is a free speech victory for citizens who want to push back against any government entity.” 

At the time, Kentucky Republicans also denounced the school district for the social media posts, arguing that public resources were used to advocate against the ballot measure. Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman soon after issued an advisory “to remind those entrusted with the administration of tax dollars appropriated for public education that those resources must not be used to advocate for or against the” proposed constitutional amendment. Pulaski County Schools removed the social media posts following the advisory. 

In a recent statement shared with the Lantern, Pulaski County Superintendent Patrick Richardson said the defeated constitutional amendment “was a matter of urgent and great concern for the Pulaski Schools because of the probable effect on Pulaski County public schools and funding for students.”

U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Donald Trump in 2018, presided over the case. 

“The district commits to not block or otherwise restrict Mr. DeAngelis from interacting with its social media pages in the future except to the extent the district deems it necessary to preemptively disable all comments on a specific post, in which case the district recognizes that it must have an independent, content-neutral justification for doing so,” the consent decree says. “Such action may not be taken for the purpose of suppressing criticism of the district or its policies or public positions.” 

Additionally, the school district agreed to not delete DeAngelis’ comments from its social media pages in the future, unless the district “deems it necessary to delete all comments on a specific post” and has “an independent, content-neutral justification for doing so.” The district will not “engage in viewpoint-based restrictions on social media against Mr. DeAngelis or other individuals.” 

The district may report users or temporarily restrict a user’s access in situations such as if a user posts threatening statements or spam. 

Communications staff for the school district will have “remedial open records, open meetings, and reasonable First Amendment educational training regarding their obligations under the First Amendment,” the order says. The school district must provide DeAngelis’ attorneys with confirmation of the training within the next year. 

Dean McGee, an attorney for the Liberty Justice Center which represented DeAngelis in the lawsuit, said that all school districts should follow the lead of having officials trained on open government laws and their obligations under the First Amendment. 

“At minimum, it needs to address the new world we’re living in, which is the internet and online speech really represents the modern day town square,” McGee said about the training. “It needs to stress to these school communications employees that they are wielding the power of government and that they have a responsibility under the First Amendment to their residents, to activists, to the press and to anyone else who might have an interest in the work they’re putting out online.”

In addition to the Liberty Justice Center, DeAngelis was represented by Northern Kentucky attorney Steven Megerle. DeAngelis is on the board of the center.

Richardson’s statement cited a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Lindke v. Freed, which says public officials can be held liable for violating the First Amendment when operating social media pages and blocking or deleting comments. 

“In view of the Lindke case holding, we entered into the consent decree, rather than spending education dollars defending the merits of our position,” Richardson said. “By entering into this decree the defendants admit no fault or liability, however recognize that a mistake may have been made but with no intent to deprive anyone of their First Amendment Rights.”

This was not the first time a Kentucky public official faced a legal challenge for blocking accounts online. Former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin faced a federal lawsuit over blocking users from his official Twitter and Facebook accounts. Ultimately, the ACLU of Kentucky settled the case with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear after he assumed office in 2020. The Kentucky governor’s office adopted a new social media policy as part of the agreement.