photo by: Lawrence City Commission screenshot

Justin Spiehs speaks during public comment Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at the Lawrence City Commission meeting.

A federal judge affirmed a lower court decision that ruled the Lawrence Public Library did not violate the freedom of speech from a frequent public commenter.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Tuesday a decision by a U.S. district court from September 2025 that granted summary judgment in favor of the library against former Lawrence resident Justin Spiehs, who had filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 claiming the library’s staff violated his free speech rights.

Judge Julie Robinson wrote in a decision that Spiehs did not provide sufficient evidence that his speech had been “chilled” by the library and its policies, but Spiehs appealed the District Court’s decision, bringing it to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Denver.

The Circuit Judges wrote in their decision affirming the dismissal of the lawsuit that Spiehs “lacked standing to seek declaratory and injunctive relief.” The court found that Spiehs did not show his speech was “subjectively chilled” when the library applied its free speech policies to him. A chilling of public speech is one way a plaintiff can prove a First Amendment violation has occurred.

As the Journal-World reported, Spiehs filed the suit in 2023, alleging that he was asked by police and library security personnel to leave while he was carrying signs at two public events. At one event, which was about how new state laws affected gender markers for transgender people, the suit says police were called after Spiehs arrived, “and it was determined that Mr. Spiehs’ sign was ‘obscene'” and that he could not be at the library with the sign; he exited the building after police arrived. At the other event, which featured a drag performer reading books aloud, the suit claimed that Spiehs was told by security that he couldn’t cause a disruption at the event, and he left when two law enforcement officers showed up at the library.

In November 2024, the Lawrence Public Library adopted a new free speech policy that limits certain activities — including holding signs, protesting, using expressive conduct or speech, distributing literature, acting as a public speaker, panhandling and requesting signatures, donations or contributions — inside the building if they “would interfere with study and enjoyment of visitors of the Library,” as the Journal-World reported.

In the legal appeal to the Circuit Court, Spiehs claimed there were three separate episodes after the policy was adopted where his freedom of speech was discriminated against based on the content of his speech. The court disagreed, saying the library’s enforcement “was neutral as to content” and finding the library’s policies “did not violate the First Amendment” as Spiehs argued.

Spiehs, who lives in Johnson County, had a different federal lawsuit against the City of Lawrence that alleged constitutional violations thrown out in March 2025, as the Journal-World reported.