SoylentNews

Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

A Wisconsin man arrested for posting disparaging and profanity laced comments [arstechnica.com] on a local police department's Facebook page has settled a civil rights lawsuit and is being awarded $35,000.

Thomas G. Smith used the Facebook page of a rural Wisconsin village called Arena to, among other things, label local cops as "fucking racists bastards."

He was charged criminally in state court on allegations of disorderly conduct and unlawful use of computerized communications. He was sentenced to a year of probation and 25 hours of community service. A state appeals court overturned his conviction last year.

Smith then sued, (PDF) leading to the $35,000 settlement Tuesday of a lawsuit that also accused the police department of deleting his and other critical comments while allowing favorable comments to remain online.

Original Submission