Jackson City Council: Council Uses Unconstitutional Comment Policy to Shut Down Speaker

The Jackson, Mississippi, City Council maintains a public comment policy that unconstitutionally bars speakers from making “personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks” or using “abusive, vulgar, or profane language.” In July 2025, over several meetings, the council used that policy to bar resident Zach Servis from criticizing city staff while freely allowing him to praise city staff and council members.

In addition, based on an unwritten rule and misunderstanding of state law, the council blocked Servis from speaking and ejected him from a meeting for wearing a “campaign shirt.”

On October 7 and December 9, 2025, FIRE wrote to the city council, calling on it to revise its comment policies to comply with the First Amendment.

Following the city’s failure to respond, we connected Servis with a member of FIRE’s Legal Network, and in August 2026, Servis sued the city. In October 2026, the city settled, agreeing to pay $1.00 in nominal damages and $10,000 in attorneys’ fees, suspend enforcement of several provisions of its comment policies, and work with FIRE to develop new policies that comply with the Constitution.