Alabama Mayor in Facebook Blocking Case Wins Immunity From Suit

An Alabama mayor will be able to raise qualified immunity as a defense against a lawsuit filed after she allegedly blocked a critic from her official Facebook page, the Eleventh Circuit said, concluding that it wasn’t clear at the time whether blocking violated the First Amendment.

Tammi Taylor filed the lawsuit against Pam Palmer, the mayor of Adamsville, Ala., after Taylor was blocked from posting comments on the city’s Facebook page for a week in 2016. Taylor’s argued that the block violated her right to free speech. The mayor raised qualified immunity as a defense against being sued in her ...