OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) – A federal court has ruled that Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. "engaged in viewpoint discrimination of the First Amendment" after removing a comment from his official Facebook page.
We've been following this story for more than a year now.
Lisa Kilker, a downtown neighbor and advocate for people living in the Regis Building near the 16th Street sinkhole, sued after this comment she posted on the mayor's page was removed.
On Friday, the court ruled that Mayor Ewing deleted Kilker's comment, blocked her from his official page, and later removed the entire post.
The ruling now prohibits the mayor from deleting comments, blocking neighbors, or shutting down his comment forum to suppress protected speech.
Kilker was awarded nearly $50,000 in attorneys' fees and costs.
Mayor Ewing's office told us that the post, which has since been reposted, will temporarily allow comments again, but that it's the page's policy not to allow comments on all other posts, which will remain in place.
READ THE FULL STATEMENT FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE: "Mayor John W. Ewing Jr.’s Facebook page is meant to share information, and it is this page’s policy not to allow comments, period. An inconsistent application of this policy led to this decision. Comments will remain temporarily open on the post in question - which was reposted some time ago. The public has other avenues to share their thoughts with the mayor, chiefly through the hotline, which can most quickly address issues."
