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May 22, 2019Des Moines, IA |  By: AP

Iowa man files free speech lawsuit

A southwest Iowa man has filed a free speech lawsuit
against a sheriff's deputy, his supervisor and the county after he was arrested
for writing a social media post that profanely criticized the deputy.

The ACLU of Iowa filed the lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of Jon Richard Goldsmith,
a Red Oak resident who became angered after attending a festival in Corning and
watching an Adams County sheriff's deputy search a car and have a confrontation
with another person.

Goldsmith later criticized the deputy, Cory Dorsey, in a profane Facebook post
that led the sheriff's department to charge Goldsmith with third-degree
harassment, a misdemeanor.

The charge was later dismissed but the ACLU sued the county, Dorsey and his
supervisor, Sgt. Paul Hogan, for what it alleged was a free speech violation.

The suit calls for the county to pay damages to Goldsmith, stop charging people
who criticize law enforcement and require training of officers.

Sheriff Alan Johannes declined to comment.