South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Legislator faces lawsuit for blocking member of public on Twitter

The+Missouri+State+Capitol+building+in+Jefferson+City.+
The Missouri State Capitol building in Jefferson City.

By Yue Yu
Columbia Missourian

A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought against state Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch for blocking someone on Twitter. The representative now faces a trial March 29 in Kansas City, according to a news release.

Columbia lawyer Mike Campbell, who filed the lawsuit, accused Reisch of blocking him on Twitter for retweeting critiques against her. Campbell called Reisch’s behavior unconstitutional and discriminative.

Reisch said it was not her intention to oppress the “voice of a constituent”; rather, she was trying to avoid personal attacks on social media, according to previous Missourian reporting. She unblocked Campbell on Twitter in July.

Reisch said in a news release this week that she was disappointed that her motion to dismiss the case was not granted. She described the suit as being “politically motivated,” referring to her House Bill 854, which would allow candidate campaign funds to be used to pay legal fees.

“If passed, this will not help me, but might help others in the future if the left keeps playing dirty,” Reisch said in her release.

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