• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, September 5, 2018

Maine Governor Paul LePage can't shake a lawsuit accusing him of violating critics' free speech rights by blocking them on Facebook and deleting their posts.

In an opinion issued late last week, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock, Jr. in Maine rejected LePage's argument that the case should be dismissed at a preliminary stage, calling the governor's bid for dismissal "premature."

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed last year by the ACLU on behalf of Karin Leuthy and Kelli Whitlock Burton, who cofounded the progressive group Suit Up Maine. Both allege  they were banned from LePage's Facebook page in July 2017, after posting comments critical of him or his administration.

They alleged that LePage violated their First Amendment rights by censoring them based on their viewpoints.

LePage had argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed for several reasons, including that the page was personal, as opposed to official. He argued the page reflected his "private speech," and that he has a First Amendment right to decide what material to allow on the page.

"Public officials do not sacrifice their individual rights to free speech -- including the right to control the messages they promote -- when they assume office," he argued in court papers.

But Leuthy and Burton countered the page was run by the government. They argued the page was labeled as "official," and that LePage uses his Facebook page to discuss government business with the public.

Woodcock wrote that Leuthy and Burton presented a strong enough case that the page was official to move forward with their lawsuit -- at least for now.

"The plaintiffs pleaded facts that lead to a reasonable inference the governor acted under color of state law when he deleted their posts and banned them from his Facebook page," Woodcock wrote.

He stressed the ruling was based on the version of facts presented by Leuthy and Burton, implying that the decision could change as more evidence is developed.

"The court denies the governor’s motion because it is premature," he wrote. "The parties to this case do not agree on a basic fact: what exactly is the social media page in question. Is it, as plaintiffs allege, the governor’s official page that he uses to discuss policy issues? Is it, as the governor claims, a holdover campaign page that the governor uses to communicate with his base and his base with him? Is it somewhere in between?"

The decision comes several months after U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in New York ruled that President Trump violates the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter.

The Department of Justice recently asked the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse that ruling, arguing that the Twitter account @realDonaldTrump -- which the president uses to broadcast official policy statements -- is "personal."

"Nothing in the First Amendment divests Donald Trump of the ability to decline to receive messages on his private property that he does not wish to hear, nor does it compel him to allow others to use his speech as a platform to amplify their own," the DOJ argued in papers field with the appellate court last month.