Protect the First Amendment in Sudbury

A lot of the talk about Town Issues is often just squabbling about money.  Everyone has an opinion.  But every now and then, something important happens.  A few weeks ago, something important happened.  I found in my email inbox a message from the Select Board announcing a newly approved “Code of Conduct Policy.”  I started reading it and a chill ran down my spine.  

Part III, Section D, point 3 - Never publicly criticize an individual employee or a Town department. Concerns about staff performance should only be made to the Town Manager through private communication.

I’m not a legal expert, but this seems to be a mandate to shut down any criticism of the town government.  This is abridging Board Members’ rights to free speech and therefore in conflict with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Articles XVI and XIX of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. 

The “central meaning” of the First Amendment, Justice William Brennan declared in his opinion for a unanimous Court in the landmark case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), is the right to criticize government and public officials. 

This Code of Conduct seems to be similar to a recent case in Southboro where the Select Board was trying to limit what a citizen could say during public comment of a meeting.  The case in Southboro (2023) resulted in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that government officials cannot silence members of the public based on the substance of their input.  “Although civility, of course, is to be encouraged, it cannot be required regarding the content of what may be said in a public comment session of a governmental meeting without violating both provisions of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, which provide for a robust protection of public criticism of governmental action and officials.” (Barron v. Kolenda)

According to Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, “Our state constitution protects our right to make our voices heard, including by expressing criticism to and about public officials. Indeed, that freedom goes to the heart of what separates us from repressive regimes. This ruling is a crucial—and resounding—recognition of these values and legal principles at a time when free speech rights are threatened nationwide.”   

The Select Board based this section of this new Code of Conduct on a 2022 template put out by the Massachusetts Municipal Association (Roberts email, Jan 12, 2025).  I pointed out to them that the MMA updated their guidance in 2023 (following the Barron v Kolenda ruling) and urged them to update Sudbury’s version to reflect the latest court rulings, but they have chosen not to change their stance.  In fact, at their meeting this past Tuesday, I was shocked to see the cavalier attitude that members showed towards First Amendment rights.  Other people’s First Amendment rights to be more specific.  It was particularly shocking because there had been much discussion at previous Select Board meetings when some felt that “their own” First Amendment rights were possibly limited by previous versions of Codes of Conduct.  And yet, here, when there is a concern brought to their attention about other people’s First Amendment rights, their concern was half-hearted at best.

I hope that you will join me in signing this Change.org petition urging the Select Board to update the Town of Sudbury Code of Conduct to be in line with the latest Massachusetts Municipal Association template which was modified in 2023 to align with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in Barron v. Kolenda which protects our very precious First Amendment rights.

Sign the Petition

Thank you.