Winchester Board of Selectmen Withdraws Comment Policy

The Winchester Board of Selectmen has abandoned a policy that prohibited “personal complaints or defamatory comments” from the public at its meetings after the ACLU of Connecticut warned that the policy was unconstitutional.

Acting on behalf of resident Jay Budahazy, who often speaks during the citizens’ comment period of Board of Selectmen meetings, ACLU of Connecticut Staff Attorney David McGuire sent a letter to the mayor and selectmen on July 25, 2013 advising them that the policy violated the free speech protections of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and similar provisions of the Connecticut Constitution.

The Board of Selectmen changed the policy twice in the following two weeks, once to address the free speech concerns expressed by McGuire and again to make it consistent with the town's charter.

The original policy governing citizens’ comments at selectmen meetings, which was printed on the meeting agendas, said: “Speakers may offer objective comments that concern them. No one will be permitted to express personal complaints or defamatory comments about Board of Selectmen members nor against anyone connected with the Town or any individual, firm or corporation, nor against other members of the audience.”

McGuire noted that when Budahazy spoke at the July 1, 2013 Winchester Board of Selectmen meeting, two selectmen interrupted and censored his comments. One of them instructed Budahazy repeatedly to be respectful and to word his comments differently.

“In the United States we don’t require people to be respectful, however that might be defined, when speaking about the government or to its representatives,” McGuire said. “We’re encouraged that town officials recognized this and dropped the policy.”