Matthew McMenamy was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for criticizing a local police detective on social media and through distributed flyers. An amicus brief filed in Missouri Court of Appeals argues the convictions violate the First Amendment.
McMenamy began posting on social media in August 2023 about what he viewed as misconduct and racism by the detective, who had been involved in McMenamy's involuntary commitment years earlier. McMenamy shared a Facebook post the detective wrote stating "If black lives matter then why are they shooting and killing each other at an alarming rate." McMenamy posted calls to make the post viral and expressed concerns about the detective's fitness for office, including discussing plans to put the detective's "racist quotes" on a billboard.
The ACLU of Missouri Foundation, Washington University's First Amendment Clinic, and First Amendment scholars Jane Bambauer and Lyrissa Lidsky signed the brief arguing harassment and stalking statutes were designed to restrict unwanted one-to-one speech directed at a particular person, not public speech about a person. The brief states the circuit court "did not make any finding that either the flyers or any one of the dozens of social media posts submitted as evidence fell within any category of unprotected speech, such as true threats."
The brief argues that while individuals may limit some speech directed to them, they cannot limit offensive speech about them directed to the public. It contends McMenamy's convictions should be reversed because his speech was directed to the public and did not fall within narrow, historically recognized categories of unprotected speech.