February 24, 2026 - By J. Justin Wilson - On Monday, a federal judge in Iowa ruled that the city of Newton, Iowa, violated Noah Petersen’s constitutional rights when city leaders arrested him for critiquing the police and calling them “fascists” during a city council meeting. The decision is a clear warning to government officials nationwide: in America, you don’t get to call the cops on your critics. If you do, not even qualified immunity can save you.

“Today’s ruling is a major win for government accountability,” said Institute for Justice (IJ) Attorney James Knight. “From small towns to federal agents, government officials don’t get to use the power of arrest to punish protected speech. The First Amendment doesn’t allow public meetings to become praise-only zones—and it certainly doesn’t allow officials to weaponize the police against dissent.”

The case began in 2022 after Petersen attended two Newton city council meetings to speak about local policing and city leadership. At the first meeting on October 3, 2022, Petersen began calmly reading remarks criticizing the police department; the mayor interrupted him, declared him in violation of the city’s rule against making “derogatory comments,” and directed the police chief to remove him. Petersen was arrested for disorderly conduct. 

Peterson attended a second meeting, a few weeks later, and used the public comment period to call the mayor and police chief “fascists” for their actions suppressing speech at the previous meeting. The mayor again stopped him, suspended the meeting, ordered him out. Noah complied, but as he headed for the exit, an officer intercepted him and arrested him again for disorderly conduct. A state court later acquitted Petersen on charges stemming from the first arrest, and prosecutors dismissed the charges arising from the second.

In today’s order, Chief Judge Stephanie M. Rose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa held that Newton’s “Derogatory Comments” rule and its selective enforcement violated Petersen’s rights under the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The court entered judgment for Petersen on liability against the city and key officials involved, rejecting various attempts to justify the arrests. Judge Rose also wrote:

The Constitution does not permit government officials to silence criticism under the guise of preventing defamation. Indeed, ‘no court of last resort in this country has ever held, or even suggested, that prosecutions for libel on government have any place in the American system of jurisprudence.’ Yet that is precisely what Defendants attempted here. The record demonstrates that the Rule was enforced against Petersen not because his speech was actually defamatory, but because it criticized government officials in a manner they found objectionable.

“Today, the court reaffirmed a basic American principle: public meetings are for the public, and you don’t lose your First Amendment rights when you step up to the microphone,” said Noah. “Newton’s leaders tried to treat public comment as a place where only praise is welcome—and when I wouldn’t be quiet, they had me arrested. I’m grateful the judge held the city accountable, and I hope this ruling sends a clear message everywhere: government officials can’t use the police to silence people who speak out.”

Across the country, government officials too often retaliate against people who criticize them, especially when the criticism is sharp, uncomfortable, or politically inconvenient. And a variety of court doctrines have made it difficult to hold them accountable when they do. Today’s win is only IJ’s latest in rolling back these doctrines, but it sets and extends an important precedent for protecting ordinary Americans who speak at public meetings. This decision follows IJ’s U.S. Supreme Court victory in Gonzalez v. Trevino, where the Court reaffirmed that citizens cannot be punished for exercising their constitutional right to criticize the government.

“This case advances a simple principle: The government can’t punish you for your speech,” said IJ Senior Attorney Patrick Jaicomo. “Retaliation, whether in the form of arrests, prosecutions, withheld permits, or some other form of official retribution, is a problem nationwide. IJ aims to change the state of play and stands ready to respond wherever government officials abuse their power to silence critics.”