An Indiana Investigator's House Call Was Coercion, a Judge Rules

Judge Sarah Evans Barker granted a preliminary injunction on Oct. 20 against Kurt Spivey, Director of Investigations for the Indiana Attorney General's office, in a First Amendment suit brought by Monroe County resident Lee Lawmaster.

In April, Lawmaster posted the number 86 beside the names of three Indiana officials on Facebook, weeks after the federal indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over a post using the phrase 86 47. Two days later, Spivey came to Lawmaster's home and told him he had crossed the line. Lawmaster was never charged. He stopped commenting on officials' pages.

Barker refused to dismiss the case and found Spivey had likely used his office to pressure Lawmaster into silence. The injunction bars Spivey and anyone acting for the Investigations Division from threatening him with legal sanctions aimed at his past or future posts involving the number.

The opinion sits in the line of jawboning cases running through NRA v. Vullo. The question is not whether a prosecution followed, but whether an official's conduct would make a reasonable person stop speaking. Barker's answer was that an unannounced visit from a state investigator does.