Case against former local representative who blocked voters on Facebook is dismissed – East Idaho News

IDAHO FALLS — The case against a former Idaho representative who allegedly blocked voters from his Facebook page has been dismissed.

Gregory Graf, Marguerite Shaw, Suellen Carman, Steven Thyberg and Carolyn Dessin filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Idaho against former Idaho representative Chad Christensen in May 2022.

RELATED | An Idaho Republican blocked voters in his district on Facebook. Now they’re suing

The group alleged that Christensen’s Facebook page, Re-elect Rep. Chad Christensen, is distinct from his personal profile, and it’s a public forum for discourse “regarding matters of public concern,” according to the Idaho Statesman.

On Dec. 6, 2024, Chief U.S. District Court Judge David Nye ruled that the case against Chad Christensen was dismissed.

Nye dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed in the future.

“Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important decision (Lindke v. Freed) which provided guidance to government officials on when their use of social media accounts could be considered state action,” says the Office of the Attorney General in a statement to EastIdahoNews.com. “After the issuance of that decision, the Plaintiffs in the Graf v. Christensen case recognized that Christensen’s actions in relation to his social media account were not state actions, and could not be attributed to the state, therefore warranting dismissal of the case.”

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Graf, one of the plaintiffs, who claims Christensen violated the constitution by blocking Idaho voters on Facebook who were critical of his politics.

“Former Rep. Chad Christensen repeatedly violated the constitutionally protected rights of his constituents by blocking those who disagreed with his ideology. His refusal to engage in respectful dialogue and his blatant suppression of opposing viewpoints epitomize political extremism,” Graf said. “While the case was ultimately dismissed, it wasn’t due to merit. It was simply not worth wasting more resources on a failed former legislator with no interest in serving anyone other than the Idaho Freedom Foundation.”

Christensen called the lawsuit a “SLAPP suit”, which refers to a type of lawsuit intended to silence the defendant and bring them negative publicity while drowning them in legal costs.

“Social media outlets are not official means of communicating with elected officials. When I served in the legislature, constituents had access to my phone in Boise and my personal phone when I was not in legislative session. They also had my email address,” Christensen said. “I responded to my calls and emails; especially, if they were constituents. My Facebook page was primarily a campaign page, as it is today. I allowed those with opposing views to comment on my page, as long as they were not harassing and abusive to others. These five plaintiffs harassed others and became abusive and they were warned repeatedly. They were then blocked from commenting because they did not stop. Only two of the five plaintiffs were actual constituents, thus the other three had no valid legal argument that they had a right to comment on this page. Thyberg, Dessin, and Graf were not constituents. In fact, Dessin lives in Ohio and merely vacationed within my legislative district. Deputy Attorney General Brian Church represented me in this case. The case became stalled and it was not going anywhere. Therefore, Deputy Church suggested that we ask the plaintiffs’ counsel that this case be dismissed with prejudice. The plaintiffs accepted and it was signed by Judge Nye. I believe this was a SLAPP suit through and through. However, their intimidation tactics and attempt to silence did not work. These five people wasted taxpayer money by wasting the court’s time, and because the attorney general had to get involved to defend the taxpayers’ monetary assets. I am happy that this frivolous mess is over.”