After Plaintiff “Criticized the City Manager …, the Manager Complained About Him to the Police.”
From yesterday’s decision in Blackwell v. Nocerini, written by Sixth Circuit Judge Eric Murphy and joined by Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton and Judge John Bush:
After Mark Blackwell criticized the city manager of a small Michigan city, the manager complained about him to the police. Two officers convinced a prosecutor to charge Blackwell with stalking. But a judge acquitted him.
Blackwell then sued the manager and officers for violating the First Amendment by inducing this prosecution in retaliation for his political speech. The district court held that his complaint alleged enough facts to rebut the city officials’ qualified-immunity defense at the pleading stage. The officials now appeal. We agree that Blackwell plausibly pleaded that the officials sought to prosecute him in retaliation for his speech and without probable cause that he had committed a crime….
Because this case reaches us at the pleading stage, we must accept the allegations in Blackwell’s complaint as true. We summarize the facts relying solely on those allegations, keeping in mind that the evidence developed in discovery may refute them down the road.
In 2018, many people complained about the “divisive and hostile” work environment for public employees in the City of Wayne, Michigan. Because the poor environment had led to low morale and high turnover, the City hired a human-resources expert to investigate the complaints. This expert allegedly confirmed much of the concerns. His findings pointed the fault at Wayne’s City Manager: Lisa Nocerini. She allegedly showed favoritism toward some employees and a lack of respect toward others.
Blackwell, a Wayne resident, obtained the expert’s report. He began to call for Nocerini’s termination during the public-comment period of City Council meetings. Unhappy with this criticism, Nocerini allegedly tried to convince Wayne’s then-existing police chief to charge Blackwell with a crime. This police chief refused.
In December 2018, however, the chief resigned. Nocerini convinced the City Council to appoint Ryan Strong as the interim chief.
At a City Council meeting in January 2019, Blackwell reiterated that many city employees had resigned due to mora
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