Coble v. Ballentine

In March 2024, Beverly Coble announced on Facebook that she would run for mayor of Randleman, North Carolina. Clayton Ballentine, a Randleman resident, opposed her candidacy by creating a critical Facebook page and website titled "Anybody But Coble." Instead of refuting Clayton's speech in the court of public opinion, Coble claimed harassment and sought a restraining order against him. The state trial court granted her request and went even further, prohibiting Clayton from publishing or speaking about Coble in any way for a year.

On appeal, the North Carolina Court of Appeals agreed with Clayton and FIRE that his speech did not constitute harassment because it was about Coble, not directed at or to her. Because the court could reverse the no-contact order solely on statutory grounds, it declined to reach our First Amendment arguments. Nevertheless, we are hopeful this speech-protective opinion will make North Carolina trial courts think twice before issuing no-contact orders based on constitutionally protected speech.