A federal district court has ordered officials in Sibley, Iowa to refrain from suing or threatening to sue a resident over critical comments he made on a personal website.

Josh Harms operates ShouldYouMoveToSibleyIA.com, a site on which he talks about the town's "rancid dog food" smell. The resident says that the town has done nothing to stop the scent from coming from a processing plant.

The city agreed to an injunction that blocks officials from “directing Harms not to speak with reporters, threatening to bring a lawsuit, or actually bringing a lawsuit against."

The injunction also includes training on the First Amendment to city staff, a written apology to Harms, and the city will have to pay $20,475 in attorneys’ fees along with $6,500 to Harms for damages.

Read more at Des Moines Register.


Original blog post:

Sibley, Iowa is less than impressed after reading what one resident posted on his website. Apparently the town smells like "rancid dog food."

Josh Harms owns the rights to ShouldYouMoveToSibleyIA.com, a website that takes a critical look at the small town. Sibley officials sent a letter back in December asking that he take the site down or face legal action.

The ACLU is on Josh's side and have filed a lawsuit to block the city from threatening any lawsuits. They say that he is completely within his constitutional rights to say that a "horrible rotten-blood and stale-beer odor that hangs over the town."

The attorney representing Sibley says that Josh's website interferes with business recruitment among other things.

Josh Harms via Facebook
Josh Harms via Facebook
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Read more at the Des Moines Register.

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