PA School Board Approves $300K Settlement In Pennbury Lawsuit

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The Pennsbury School Board approved a settlement of $300,000 for the lawsuit related to the censoring of speakers at a school board meeting last year.

Plaintiffs Tim Daly, Simon Campbell, Douglas Marshall, and Robert Abrams filed the suit on Oct. 1 and were represented by attorneys at the Institute for Free Speech, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. Michael Gottlieb of Vangrossi & Recchuiti also represented them.

The settlement acknowledges that the district must pay $300,000 for the plaintiffs’ attorney fees. Nominal damages of $17.91 will be paid to each plaintiff, "a symbolic payment acknowledging that the plaintiffs’ rights were violated," according to the Institute for Free Speech. "The amount was chosen because 1791 was the year the First Amendment was ratified."

According to the Institute for Free Speech, the district has also rewritten its public-comment policy to conform to the First Amendment and the federal court’s preliminary injunction ruling. The school district parted ways with the law firm that was advising it during the time it censored comments, including the solicitor who shouted down speakers.

Each plaintiff claims the School Board compromised their First Amendment rights after they had their public comments interrupted during a now infamous school board meeting, which shows board members interrupting and yelling at the plaintiffs. Pennsbury Assistant Solicitor Peter Amuso notably told several of the plaintiffs "You're done!" in order to stop the criticism of the board's various decisions the plaintiffs brought up during their opportunities to speak directly to the board.

The Pennsbury School District made headlines last year related to public opinions on their stance regarding the masking of children and the subsequent lawsuit filed by parents who felt the policy had negative implications on their children.

Pennsbury School Board of Directors president Christine Toy-Dragoni said she was contacting the FBI after she and several other board members allegedly received threatening messages due to board decisions; a later anti-hate vigil was set up in solidarity with the board members.

“School boards across the country should take note. Rules for public comments must respect the First Amendment rights of speakers. If you are limiting which opinions may be shared, you’ll be held liable for violating First Amendment rights,” said Alan Gura, Vice President for Litigation at the Institute for Free Speech.

“Rules for public comment periods are meant to maintain time limits and protect each speaker’s right to be heard, not police which viewpoints are expressed. Pennsbury’s rules were so vague and subjective that the board could effectively shut down any speech they didn’t like, and that’s exactly what they did,” said Del Kolde, Senior Attorney at the Institute for Free Speech.

"School boards may restrict comments that are obscene, exceed the allotted time limit, or make true threats, but they may not censor speech based on its viewpoint," the Insititute said. "Citizens in Pennsbury and all across Pennsylvania can now speak freely without fear of arbitrary censorship under the PSBA’s unconstitutional model policy. The Institute for Free Speech will continue to work with parents to defend free speech at public school board meetings across the country."