Augusta school board, ‘Corn Pop’ reach settlement in federal free speech lawsuit
Nicholas "Corn Pop" Blanchard is seen at a pro-ICE rally in front of the Maine State House in July. Blanchard and the Augusta Board of Education recently reached a settlement in his federal free speech lawsuit against them. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer)
The Augusta Board of Education and Nicholas Blanchard have reached a settlement in the federal lawsuit Blanchard filed in January alleging the board’s public comment policy violated his First Amendment rights to free speech.
The lawsuit was filed against the board, Chair Martha Witham and the Augusta School Department after Blanchard, also known by the nickname “Corn Pop,” said Witham and the board repeatedly cut him off and ordered him to stop speaking during meetings.
Now, both the school board and Blanchard are requesting the judge approve their agreement following two months of settlement talks.
“I think it’s a win for all parents here in the state of Maine that go to school board meetings or city council meetings, that speak out and get shut down,” Blanchard said in an interview.
A federal judge issued an injunction in April, stating the school board cannot enforce aspects of the public comment policy aimed at limiting gossip and abusive and vulgar language. As a result, the school board amended its policy in May.
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The proposed terms of the settlement, which the judge still needs to approve before they become official, order the board to permanently comply with the injunction regarding the public comment policy. The board already repealed its old comment policy following the injunction in May.
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“The Augusta School Department is — and has always been — committed to respecting and supporting First Amendment rights,” Superintendent Mike Tracy said in a statement. “The board therefore came to the conclusion that it made more sense to resolve this case than to spend valuable resources fighting to justify a policy that it has already repealed.”
Under the settlement terms, the board would also have to pay Blanchard $17.91 in damages — a symbolic request that’s in reference to when the First Amendment was ratified as part of the U.S. Bill of Rights in the year 1791 — in addition to covering his legal fees and expenses.
Blanchard, who was represented by both the Institute for Free Speech, a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending First Amendment rights, and Steve Smith Trial Lawyers in Augusta, said he was pleased with the terms of the settlement but was disappointed that his request for an apology from the school board was not met.
Public comment guidelines in school board meetings have been the subject of an ongoing debate across the state.
In 2022, a federal judge ruled the Hampden-based RSU 22 board violated Maine First Project advocate Shawn McBreairty’s constitutional rights by banning him from school events and meetings after he played an explicit recording during a meeting, prompting the district to settle the lawsuit and pay McBrearity $40,000.
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McBrearity died by suicide in 2024, but his widow, Patricia McBrearity, received $350,000 from the Brewer School Department this year as a result of a lawsuit he filed against the department before he died for making him take down on online post. The post included a photo of students in a Brewer High School women’s restroom and claimed one of the students was male.
The judge is set to rule on the settlement between Blanchard and the Augusta school board by Sept. 14.
“Because of Mr. Blanchard’s case, Maine residents will no longer need to worry that government boards can cut off their speech simply for criticizing elected officials or saying things that the government finds ‘abusive,’ ‘vulgar’ (or) ‘gossip,'” said Nathan Ristuccia, one of Blanchard’s lawyers from the Institute for Free Speech. “This is a victory for the general public, not just for Mr. Blanchard.”
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Tagged: augusta school board, augusta school department, first amendment, kennebec journal
Sara Coughlin covers the Augusta area for the Kennebec Journal. She received a degree in English and government with a concentration in creative writing from Bowdoin College, where she served as an editor. More by Sara Coughlin
