Victory: Wisconsin school board backs away from ban on criticism during public comment

Residents do not need to agree with public officials to speak at a government meeting.

That’s the message the St. Croix Central School Board in Hammond, Wisconsin, has now received loud and clear. After FIRE warned that the board’s public comment restrictions violated the First Amendment, the board confirmed it will not enforce them moving forward.

At a June 2025 meeting, the board announced that speakers could not make “allegations, charges, or complaints” against specific students or employees, use comments or gestures deemed “profane,” “harassing,” or “abusive,” or engage in “personal attacks” against others.

Those rules struck at the heart of public comment. Residents attend school board meetings to praise, question, complain, and criticize. Vague and subjective terms like “abusive” and “personal attacks” give officials enormous discretion to silence criticism they find uncomfortable. Government officials may set reasonable rules to keep meetings running, but they cannot turn public comment into a criticism-free zone.

On May 21, FIRE wrote to the board, explaining that the restrictions were unconstitutional and urging the board to rescind them or confirm they no longer reflected board policy.

The board responded, confirming the statement “does not reflect the Board’s current formal or informal policies and practices” and that it has “no plans to . . . enforce such restrictions in the future.”

That’s a win for every resident who wants to hold local officials accountable. At government meetings, the First Amendment protects more than praise and flattery.