MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin high school student has won a federal lawsuit she brought against a sheriff who threatened her with jail time early in the COVID-19 pandemic if she didn’t remove social media posts saying she had the virus.
U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig ruled that Amiyah Cohoon's constitutional right to free speech was violated when a Marquette County sheriff’s deputy in March 2020 demanded she take down the posts.
The judge wrote that, “The First Amendment is not a game setting for the government to toggle off and on." When the suit was filed, an attorney for the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department said that the girl’s messages caused panic.
