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This essay was originally by The Gazette on April 17, 2025.

My grandpa was a World War II veteran and a proud American. After the war, he returned to his Melcher farm and became a Marion County supervisor. Although he died months before my birth, my 98-year-old grandma shared stories about him that guide my moral compass.

One of my favorites is that grandpa would tell folks who gave him a hard time, “Merry Christmas!” and move along to consider their feedback on his public duties. When you’re in charge of plowing the roads in Iowa, folks can get mad at you occasionally.

Decatur County officials should heed my grandpa’s advice and stop harassing citizens for questioning the Decatur County Board of Supervisors.

As Iowa Freedom of Information Council Executive Director Randy Evans , Decatur County Attorney Alan Wilson sent Van Wert resident Rita Audlehelm a cease and desist letter. Why? She wrote to the Leon Journal-Reporter criticizing the board for not acting against a supervisor she believed was out of the county for several weeks. After she asserted that the supervisor attended only one of 17 meetings in person, Audlehelm asked, “My questions are: Why are you not attending BOS meetings and the committee meetings assigned to you?”

It’s a valid question and the First Amendment fully protects it.

Wilson claimed this question was defamatory and demanded that Audlehelm “Cease and Desist from making any future false, misleading, or defamatory statements against any elected official of Decatur County.” However, the Supreme Court made clear in N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan that the First Amendment gives citizens breathing room to comment on public affairs because inaccurate statements are inevitable in free debate. Since Sullivan, the court has repeatedly upheld our “profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.”

So, even if she is incorrect, Wilson cannot prevent Audlehelm — or any of us — from voicing good-faith criticism of public officials.

My grandpa taught me that accepting criticism of public duties is part of receiving a taxpayer-funded paycheck. This lesson motivates my work as a First Amendment attorney at the FIRE(������ýapp�ٷ�).

For me, this is personal.

Unfortunately, Wilson’s attempt to silence debate reflects a trend of politicians intimidating journalists and citizens. Here in Iowa, FIREasked a court to dismiss President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against our client, pollster J. Ann Selzer, and in Mississippi, FIREcame to the defense of a newspaper sued by a mayor for libel.

Censorship is spreading rapidly, and Americans should urge public officials to address criticism openly rather than resort to lawsuits and threats.

It is an insult to the sacrifices of my grandpa’s generation for public officials to try to silence critics rather than hear folks out.