Walton County resident sues commissioner, attorney alleging First Amendment violations

SANTA ROSA BEACH — A lawsuit has been filed against Walton County Commissioner William McCormick and Interim County Attorney Clay Adkinson, alleging the two violated the First Amendment rights of a Walton County resident named Alan Osborne.

According to the lawsuit, the incident in question stemmed from a public comment period during a board meeting on Jan. 23. In the lawsuit, Osborne alleges he was prevented from speaking on matters of concern by McCormick and that McCormick interrupted and censored Osborne's remarks because they contradicted the county's position on the termination of then-County Administrator Quinn Robertson.

Additionally, Osborne's lawsuit says that Adkinson played a role in instructing McCormick to stop Osborne's remarks, which Osborne claims was a coordinated effort among the two administrators to quell dissenting remarks.

The lawsuit also contends that Osborne, a resident of Santa Rosa Beach, had the right to speak at the public meeting under the protections of the First Amendment. The defendants, McCormick and Adkinson, violated his constitutional rights by censoring Osborne's speech based on its content, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit seeks various forms of relief, including declaratory and injunctive relief to prohibit future violations of free speech, damages for the alleged violations and an award of attorney fees and costs under applicable statutes.

"These guys are crooks," Osborne said in a phone interview. "They're stepping all over free speech daily, and we've had enough of it.

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"I've spent 35 years in the Department of Defense, so if they take my constitutional rights, I'm going to fight over them. You're going to get sued," Osborne said. "I didn't get to lay down and put kids in silver boxes for a bunch of people who never served to step on my rights and other people's."

The Northwest Florida Daily News emailed Walton County officials for comment. According to Walton County Public Information Officer Ron Kelly, it is county policy to refrain from commenting on potential or pending lawsuits against the county or against county officials.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Walton County man sues officials, alleging free-speech violations