Judges rule Bonner County and Spokane sheriff’s offices can no longer censor critical Facebook comments

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

Two federal judges recently ruled in favor of activist Jim Leighty, formerly of Bonner County, in his lawsuits against Spokane and Bonner counties’ sheriff’s offices for violating his First Amendment rights by censoring Facebook comments made by him. Both departments are now barred from hiding or deleting critical Facebook comments on their official pages, which are considered public forums and therefore protected speech.

Idaho Chief District Judge David Nye awarded Leighty $125,000, stipulating that the BCSO can no longer block anyone from its page and must turn off comments for all posts while still allowing users to “like” or otherwise interact with the information. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rice likewise ordered SCSO to pay Leighty $58,000 and keep all comments turned off until a future court order says otherwise, or until the end of Sheriff John Nowels’ term in December 2026.

“I filed my lawsuits because I believe it is wrong for the government to silence people who disagree with them — especially when it allows law enforcement to control the narrative unchecked,” Leighty told the Reader.

Leighty is a Spokane-based civil rights advocate whose nonprofit, Citizen Nine26, works to make public records and resources more available and help “people who have experienced injustices as a result of government misconduct,” according to the organization’s mission statement. He began his advocacy after the death of his friend, Craig Johnson, who was shot by Bonner County Sergeant Shawn Deem in 2017 during a wellness check.

“Like many, I was raised to trust law enforcement’s version of events. However, after submitting multiple public records requests, I discovered that the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office had been spreading misleading, inaccurate and dishonest information about Craig’s death,” said Leighty.

According to the lawsuit, the majority of Leighty’s censored comments on the BCSO’s site pertained to Johnson’s death and spoke critically of the department’s officers.

“‘Detective’ Stella, remember when you and your team killed Craig Johnson on 9/26/2017? The missing phone message, the lack of fingerprints, DNA, and dirt on a gun you claim he had, and the lies that Johnson was ‘aggressing toward’ your hidden snipers when they shot him in the back. A lot of interesting stuff when it comes to forensics,” Leighty wrote on the BCSO’s Facebook post announcing that staff members would appear on the show Forensic Files.

BCSO subsequently hid that comment, alleging that it violated the pages’ terms of use. According to the lawsuit, BCSO reserved “the right to remove comments” that contained personal attacks or did not relate to the posted topic, among other limitations; however, Leighty’s suit argued that the BCSO failed to enforce these standards for all comments. The BCSO eventually blocked Leighty on Facebook altogether.

Leighty made a similarly critical comment on the SCSO page regarding Sergeant Clay Hilton, who was charged with the assault of 63-year-old Kevin Hinton. Hinton suffered eight broken ribs, a punctured lung and a concussion. The SCSO hid this comment.

Nye and Rice independently ruled that these actions violated Leighty’s right to free speech. Both sheriff’s offices agreed to federal injunctions and settled with Leighty, who used part of his $183,000 winnings to fund Citizen Nine26.

“The First Amendment is the foundation of our democracy — without it, dissenting voices are silenced, and unchecked power prevails. We cannot stand idly by while our rights are violated,” Leighty told the Reader.

“I am committed to holding law enforcement accountable and ensuring that no government agency can silence the public without consequence,” he added.