3rd Circuit sides with Erie County in speech suit

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A federal appeals court has agreed that an Erie County councilman did not violate a man’s free speech rights by ejecting him from a meeting when the man refused to stop speaking after a public comment period ended.

Dan Galena, an activist and frequent council critic, sued Councilman Fiore Leone after the official had a sheriff’s deputy escort Galena from a 2007 meeting.

An Erie County jury awarded Galena $5,000 in 2009, after ruling his free-speech rights were violated but U.S. District Judge Sean McLaughlin last year overturned the verdict and found that Leone acted properly.

The Erie Times-news says a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel voted 2-1 on Friday to upheld McLaughlin’s findings that Leone was only trying to restore order to the meeting and did not violate Galena’s rights.