Exeter Police Critic Sues Over Arrest For 'Mean' Online Comments

EXETER, NH — The American Civil Liberties Union this week filed a lawsuit on behalf of an Exeter man who was arrested on a criminal defamation charge after criticizing the police department in online comments. Robert Frese was arrested earlier this year after posting a comment on a Seacoastonline.com news story claiming Exeter Police Chief William Shupe "covered up for (a) dirty cop."

Police said Frese "purposely communicated on a public website, in writing, information which he knows to be false and knows will tend to expose another person to public contempt, by posting that Chief Shupe covered up for a dirty cop."

Police later dropped the charge after the ACLU became involved. New Hampshire is one of 24 states with criminal defamation charges on the books, according to the group.

"These laws have no place in modern American democracy," Brian Hauss, an ACLU attorney, said in a statement. "(They) literally make it a crime to say mean things about people."

Shupe did not return a phone message Thursday seeking comment.

The ACLU's lawsuit claims criminal defamation laws violate the First Amendment.

"The Exeter Police Department’s criminal complaint against Frese is a textbook example of the use and abuse of criminal defamation laws," Hauss added. "Someone who has had a history of trouble with the police went to the internet to air his grievances, and the police department itself decided to prosecute him."

Photo: Robert Frese. (Credit: ACLU)