Case 2:18-cv-01608-MHH Document 1 Filed 10/01/18 Page 1 of 12 FILED

2018 Oct-02 AM 09:48

U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
CENTRAL DIVISION

TAMMI TAYLOR, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
vs. )
) Civil Action No.:
PAM PALMER, individually and in )
her official capacity as Mayor of the )
City of Adamsville, AND THE CITY )
OF ADAMSVILLE, ALABAMA )
)
Defendants. )
__________________________________________________________________

COMPLAINT
__________________________________________________________________
COMES NOW the Plaintiff, Tammi Taylor ("Taylor") and hereby files this

Complaint against Defendants, Pam Palmer and The City of Adamsville, Alabama

("Palmer," "Mayor Palmer," and/or "City of Adamsville") and respectfully shows

unto the Court as follows:

PARTIES, JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. Plaintiff is a citizen of the City of Adamsville, Alabama. She is an

outspoken critic of the City of Adamsville. On numerous occasions, she has

exercised her First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution to

speak out against the Mayor and the City Council. For example, she has exercised

her First Amendment right to object to the Big Sky Landfill and the train which

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was dumping unauthorized human waste in her community - which the Mayor

supported. Ultimately, through Plaintiff's advocacy and others, the "Poop Train"

was ordered to leave her community.

2. Defendant Palmer is the Mayor of the City of Adamsville, Alabama,

("City of Adamsville") and has control and access over the City of Adamsville's

Facebook page. By blocking the posts of its citizen, Taylor, it is violating her First

Amendment rights of free speech.

3. Defendant, City of Adamsville, Alabama, ("City of Adamsville")

owns and operates its Facebook page. By blocking the posts of its citizen, Taylor,

it is violating her First Amendment rights of free speech.

4. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and

1343(a)(3). Plaintiff brings this action for delcaratory and injunctive relief

pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201-2202 and pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation

of rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

5. Venue is proper in this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(1) and (c)(1).

Mayor Palmer is employed as Mayor of the City of Adamsville which is located in

this District.

FACTS

A. The Facebook Platform

6. Facebook is a social media platform with more than 2.3 billion active
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users worldwide, including some 214 million in the United States.

7. A 'user' is an individual who has created an account on the Facebook

platform. A Facebook user must have an account name and an individual

password. That individual user has a Facebook page. A "user" may be a

corporation, governmental entity, non-profit or individual and can establish a

Facebook webpage or "page."

8. Facebook allows users to post photos, videos, links and or messages,

which are called "posts" to their pages. A user's page comprises the posted content

(i.e., the message, including any embedded photograph, video, or link), the user's

account name, the user's profile picture, the date and time the post was generated,

and the number of times the post has been liked or shared by other users. The

Facebook page that displays the collection of a user's posts is known as the user's

"feed." When a user generates a post, the feed updates immediately to include that

post and anyone who can view a user's Facebook webpage can see the user's

timeline.

9. A user's Facebook page may also include a profile picture, such as a

headshot; a profile image, which appears as a banner at the top of the webpage; a

short biographical description; a small sample of photographs and videos posted to

the user's timeline, which link to a full gallery, a list of the user's "friends," and a

section that says "What's on your mind?," which allows the user to post content."

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It also contains a section labeled "filters" which allows a user to change the

privacy of its page.

10. By default, Facebook webpages and their associated timelines are

visible to everyone with internet access, including those who are not Facebook

users. Although non-users can view users' Facebook webpages (if the accounts are

public), they cannot interact with users on the Facebook platform.

11. Facebook users can "friend" other users and if a "friend request" is

accepted, users generally can see all posts posted or shared by accounts they have

"friended." A defining feature of Facebook is a user's ability to comment or

respond to others' posts, and to interact with Facebook users in relation to those

posts. Beyond posting, Facebook users can engage with one another in a variety of

ways. Users can share the posts of other users, either by posting them directly to

their own page or by quoting them in their own posts. When a user shares a post, it

appears on the user's timeline in the same form as it did on the original user's

timeline, but with a notation indicating that the post was shared.

12. A Facebook user can also reply to other users' posts. Like any other

post, a reply can include, a message, photographs, videos, and links. This reply

may be viewed in two places: when a user sends a reply, the reply appears on the

user's feed.

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13. A Facebook user can also 'like' another user's posts by clicking on the

thumbs-up icon that appears under the post. By 'liking' a post, a user may mean to

convey approval or to acknowledge having seen the post.

14. Posts, shares, replies, likes and other interactive icon posts are

controlled by the user who generates them and no other Facebook user can alter the

content of that person's post or reply, either before or after it is posted. Facebook

users cannot prescreen posts, replies, likes, or other interactive icon posts that

reference their posts or accounts. Facebook is called a 'social' media platform in

large part because of comment threads, which reflect multiple overlapping

'conversations' among and across groups of users.

15. In addition to these means of interaction, Facebook offers two means

of limiting interaction with other users: "unfriending" and "hiding." A user who

wants to prevent another user from interacting with her account on the Facebook

platform can do so by "unfriending" or "blocking" that user. Facebook provides

users with the capability to block other users, but it is the users themselves who

decide whether to make use of this capability.

16. When a user is signed in to a Facebook account that has been blocked,

the blocked user cannot see or reply to the blocking user's posts, view the blocking

user's list of friends or friends' accounts. The blocking user will not be notified if

the blocked user mentions them or posts a comment; nor, when signed in to her

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account, will the blocking user see any posts posted by the blocked user. If while

signed in to the blocked account, the blocked user attempts to follow the blocking

user, or to access the Facebook webpage from which the user is blocked, the

blocked user will see a message indicating that the other user has blocked him or

her from following the account and viewing the posts associated with the account.

17. While blocking precludes the blocked user from directly interacting

with the blocking user's posts -- including from replying or posting, blocking does

not eliminate all interaction between the blocked user and the blocking user. After

a user has been blocked, the blocked user can still mention the blocking user.

Posts mentioning the blocking user will be visible to anyone who can view the

blocked user's posts and replies. A blocked user can also reply to users who have

replied to the blocking user's posts, although the blocked user cannot see the post

by the blocking user that prompted the original reply.

18. As distinguished from blocking, hiding is a feature that allows a user

to remove an account's posts from his or her timeline without unfollowing or

blocking that account. Hiding accounts will not know that the hiding user has hid

them and the hiding user can unhide them at any time.

19. Hidden accounts can friend the hiding user and the hiding user can

friend hidden accounts. Hiding a post will not cause the hiding user to unfollow

them. If a hiding user follows a hidden user, replies and posts by the hidden

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account will still appear in the hiding user's Notifications tab and when the hiding

user replies from a hidden account, it will be visible. By contrast, if a hiding user

does not follow a hidden user, replies and mentions will not appear in the hiding

user's Notifications tab and when the hiding user clicks or taps into a conversation,

replies from muted accounts will be not visible.

B. The City of Adamsville Facebook Account

20. The City of Adamsville, Alabama has an established Facebook

webpage. The City of Adamsville uses its Facebook Account to engage users

frequently about city business. According to its Facebook page, the page is to

provide:

Adamsville residents with accurate, official information and happenings

within our City and our surrounding area. Promoting our local businesses,
churches and civic organizations to encourage community involvement,
unity and growth. Providing Citizens with links to useful information and
events within and outside of our City. This is not a gossip page, this is the
official page. Comments deemed offensive to others, false news, gossip,
inciting anger, slanderous, etc.… will not be tolerated." (emphasis added).

It has thousands of Facebook friends on its Facebook page. It posts almost daily

and its videos generate over a thousand views. Its posts routinely generate

numerous comments or interactions.

21. It is even used to vote on various issues.

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22. The City of Adamsville and Palmer post photos about businesses

opening, notify residents of upcoming events and even poll their users on issues

relating to the city. They seek volunteers for important city committees through

their Facebook page. In sum, the City of Adamsville and its Mayor use its

Facebook page as a key channel for official communication.

23. In a manner that suppresses dissent and discussion in this public

forum, Palmer and the City of Adamsville have blocked Facebook users, like

Taylor, who have asked questions about the city's business or criticized them. As a

result of this blocking, Taylor's ability to comment or event vote on issues about

her own community is impeded. This practice is unconstitutional and Taylor seeks

to end it.

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24. Unbelievably, in an even more punitive attempt to infringe on her

First Amendment rights, the City of Adamsville filed suit against Taylor in the

Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama. (A true and correct copy of the

lawsuit is attached as Exhibit A). That lawsuit seeks to prevent Taylor from

commenting on her own personal Facebook page about the City of Adamsville.

This practice is per se unconstitutional and Taylor seeks to fight it.

COUNT I

VIOLATIONS OF § 1981 - FIRST AMENDMENT VIOLATIONS

25. The City of Adamsville is a municipal entity subject to § 42 U.S.C. §

1983. Mayor Palmer as an elected official is also subject to § 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

They both act under "color of law."

26. The United States Supreme Court has recognized that social media

platforms such as Facebook provide "perhaps the most powerful mechanisms

available to a private citizen to make his or her voice heard." Packingham v. North

Carolina, 137 S.Ct. 1730, 1737 (2017). In addition, according to multiple courts, a

social media page maintained by a governmental entity is a public forum.

27. The City of Adamsville has filed this suit against Tammi Taylor

seeking to enjoin her from posting on her personal Facebook page. This action in

and of itself is a violation of the First Amendment.

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28. In addition, Taylor has been banned from posting on the public

Facebook page for the City of Adamsville. As a result, she has been encumbered

by her inability to directly comment to the events and even vote on important

matters affecting her community.

29. Pursuant to § 1983, this Court should enjoin the City of Adamsville

and Mayor Palmer from these unlawful actions, award damages, including

attorney's fees in favor of Tammi Taylor.

COUNT II

RETALIATION UNDER 42 U.S.C. § 1983 - FIRST AMENDMENT

30. Plaintiff adopts and realleges all prior paragraphs of its complaint as if

fully set forth herein.

31. Taylor has been an outspoken critic of the City of Adamsville, its

mayor and its City Council, thereby exercising her First Amendment rights.

32. After expressing her opinions, the City of Adamsville and Mayor

Palmer have blocked her from the City of Adamsville's Facebook page. This is

viewpoint-based exclusion is a violation of the First Amendment. See Knight First

Amendment Inst. at Columbia Univ. v. Trump, 302 F. Supp. 3d 541 (S.D.N.Y.

2018).

33. Accordingly, because the City of Adamsville and Mayor Palmer have

blocked this important public forum, they have violated her First Amendment

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rights and this Court should enjoin the City of Adamsville from this continuing

violation.

34. As a result of her outspoken criticism, she has been sued by the City,

threatened, harassed and ostracized by those who fear Mayor Palmer will retaliate

against them or those who have been threatened by the Mayor Palmer.

35. In sum, the City of Adamsville has retaliated against Taylor for

exercising her First Amendment rights.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, Taylor respectfully requests this

Court:

1) Declare Defendants' viewpoint-based blocking of Taylor's posts

from the City of Adamsville's Facebook account to be unconstitutional;

2) Declare Defendants' lawsuit itself to be a violation of her First

Amendment rights and a retaliatory action;

3) Enter an injunction requiring Defendants to unblock Taylor from

the City of Adamsville's Facebook page; and

4) Award damages and grant any additional relief as may be proper

including attorneys' fees.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Jenna M .Bedsole

Jenna M. Bedsole
Attorney for Plaintiff
TAMMI TAYLOR
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OF COUNSEL
BAKER, DONELSON, BEARMAN,
CALDWELL & BERKOWITZ, P.C.
1400 Wells Fargo Tower
420 North 20th Street
Birmingham, AL 35203
(205) 328-0480 Telephone
(205) 322-8007 Facsimile

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that the foregoing has been served upon the following
counsel of record by electronic mail and/or by electronically filing the foregoing
with the Clerk of Court using the Ala-file electronic filing system, on this the 1st
day of October, 2018.

James S. Ward
WARD & COOPER, LLC
2100 Southbridge Parkway, Suite 580
Birmingham, AL 35209
205-871-5404

s/ Jenna M. Bedsole
OF COUNSEL

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