CLEVELAND — A Cleveland resident is suing city council after his microphone was cut as he read a list of contributions to the council president’s political action committee during public comment on Sept. 25. 

What You Need To Know

  • Cleveland City Council is being sued by a resident who said his First Amendment rights were violated when his mic was cut during public comment on Sept. 25

  • The resident, Chris Martin, was reading a list of contributions to the political action committee controlled by the council president for fundraising for individual members

  • In the meeting, council President Blaine Griffin said Martin broke a rule that prevents speakers from directly addressing council members

  • Attorneys with Case Western Reserve University’s First Amendment Law Clinic are representing Martin and argue that rule is unconstitutional

In the council meeting, Council President Blaine Griffin said Martin broke a rule that prevents speakers from directly addressing council members.

Attorneys with Case Western Reserve University’s First Amendment Law Clinic are representing Martin and argue that rule is unconstitutional.

A local attorney, Martin has been a resident of the City of Cleveland for about 15 years and occasionally uses public comment to advocate for the issues he cares about. 

“It is very important for residents of the city of Cleveland and for anyone affected by decisions made by Cleveland City Council members to be able to speak to them,” he said.

Cleveland City Council and the city’s law department have declined to comment for this story, but here’s part of what Griffin said in the meeting where he cut Martin off:

“The rules of order is that you are not supposed to invoke any names,” Griffin said. “And I actually told everybody that earlier, sir. So, if you could please remove yourself, sir.”

Attorneys representing Martin said they first met with the city’s legal team to discuss their concerns about the constitutionality of the rule, hoping they could come to an agreement on changes.

“My direction to my legal team has basically been to try and work something out to protect public comment,” Martin said. “And what we've seen is lack of action, and the closest thing to action we've seen is further restrictions on public comment. So, it became clear that the pressure of a lawsuit was going to become necessary.”

In the time since Martin spoke, council meetings have been packed with speakers asking council to call for a ceasefire in the conflict in Gaza. 

Council held a caucus to discuss changes to public comment rules, but their proposals made those rules even stricter. 

In a statement, the CWRU’s First Amendment Law Clinic’s Director Andy Geronimo said, “Censoring Mr. Martin while he was engaged in core political speech was an affront to Mr. Martin, and a serious violation of his rights under the First Amendment—and really to all of our rights to hear what Mr. Martin hoped to say. Government officials cannot silence speech simply because it criticizes them or offends their sensibilities, and Council’s lack of meaningful action on this matter unfortunately made it necessary for Mr. Martin to proceed with a lawsuit to vindicate and enforce his First Amendment rights.”

Martin said he suffers from anxiety, and it’s been weird to be thrown into a spotlight so unexpectedly. 

But he’s confident that he’s doing what’s right for the community and feels supported in his fight.

“I’ve gotten a lot of positive attention since making the comment and you know, folks have been, have been very kind and encouraging,” he said. “That feels very good. But I mean, oh, yeah, I didn't expect any of this.”

Cleveland isn’t the only city in the region considering changes to public comment rules. 

Akron City Council recently passed new rules restricting the number of speakers and prohibiting the use of signs and banners.