(Legal Newsline) – The Alaska Supreme Court won’t let state lawmakers block members of the public on Facebook and delete their comments, rejecting the appeal of a minor punishment imposed on a former state senator.
Lora Reinbold sought review of an Ethics Committee determination that she had violated provisions of the Legislative Ethics Act when she closed her Facebook page to a citizen and deleted comments he had made.
He filed a complaint that led to a directive that Reinbold “refrain from blocking members of the public from commenting on her legislative social media site(s) solely for expressing opinions in disagreement with her own.” The Supreme Court affirmed that finding in an opinion released Aug. 7.
Representing herself, Reinbold failed to show a “refusal to follow its own rules or procedure” on the part of the Ethics Committee, the court held.
“At no point did the Ethics Committee act outside the statutorily defined investigative process,” Justice Dario Borghesan wrote. “Therefore, its actions are protected by legislative immunity.”
One part of the Legislative Ethics Act orders lawmakers to “conduct the public’s business” in a way that preserves the integrity of the legislative process and avoids conflicts of interest, while another says constituents must “have unencumbered access to legislators about issues important to the state.”
Reinbold apparently didn’t see one Facebook user’s comments as helpful to the political discussion, deleting them and blocking him. The Ethics Committee held a meeting with Reinbold after its investigation, during which Reinbold deleted her Facebook page.
There were no other sanctions from the committee other than a recommendation that Reinbold refrain from blocking comments due to disagreement with the views expressed, but she fought that punishment – even after leaving the statehouse in 2023 after 10 years there.
She was a bit of a controversial figure during the COVID pandemic. She was banned from Alaska Airlines in April 2021 after posting the reaction when she refused to put a face mask back on during a November 2020 flight.
She sued over the ban but ultimately lost in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in June. Reinbold was also accused by Gov. Mike Dunleavy of spreading COVID misinformation during legislative hearings.
