photo by: Austin Hornbostel

Frequent anti-mask protester Justin Spiehs is pictured with a sign on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at the Douglas County Courthouse. The Journal-World has obscured the obscene language on the sign.

A frequent public commenter who has filed more than a dozen lawsuits claiming his civil rights have been violated lost another federal case recently — his third major defeat in his attempt to prove that he is being wronged by the government.

In mid-August, Judge Julie Robinson threw out Justin Spiehs’ long-running lawsuit against the Douglas County Commission, Sheriff Jay Armbrister and other county law enforcement officers. Robinson granted summary judgment to the defendants, which means the matter could be decided simply as a matter of law.

In her ruling, Robinson noted that the responses of Spiehs’ attorney, Linus Baker, to the defendants’ motions were “riddled with deficiencies” and unsupported facts.

The case stemmed from a series of County Commission meetings, beginning on April 20, 2022, and continuing through May 2024 and beyond. Spiehs, usually brandishing a sign with obscenities and using vulgar language to personally attack officials, was arrested at least twice in that period after being disruptive during general public comment. He argued that he was targeted for exercising his First Amendment rights — a claim that Robinson roundly rejected in a nearly 60-page ruling.

As she has previously, Robinson found that the public comment period of a commission meeting is a limited public forum for the purpose of commenting on county business. The commission can therefore legally impose a time limit and a requirement that comments be germane to county business and comply with decorum standards. Robinson further found that Spiehs had not shown that he was discriminated against based on his viewpoints, and she noted that no law requires the commission to hold a public comment session at all.

Robinson also found in favor of the deputies who arrested Spiehs, saying they were protected by qualified immunity, had probable cause to believe Spiehs was being disorderly and had neither unlawfully arrested him nor engaged in malicious prosecution of him.

Court records indicate that Spiehs is appealing Robinson’s decision.

He has filed 13 federal lawsuits in the past three years, 10 of which are apparently ongoing. He lost his lawsuit against the City of Lawrence last year, as well as his suit against the Lawrence Public Library.

Spiehs’ attorney, Baker, also represents Phillip Michael Eravi, another frequent commenter who has unsuccessfully sued multiple government entities claiming his free speech rights have been violated.

Eravi, who identifies as a “citizen journalist,” recently became a convicted felon after a Douglas County jury found him guilty of interfering with a law enforcement officer.