To be clear, the flying of gay flags is not prohibited in the city of Nashua, but a recent settlement has put the city’s citizen flagpole six feet under. Viewpoint discrimination, as it turns out, is unconstitutional in Nashua, too. There is no Nashua Exception, and if the hyper-partisan Mayor can’t limit use of his pole to things he cherishes, then there will be no flag flying at all.
That’s how this whole mess got started. The Citizen flagpole in front of City Hall was never a citizen flagpole at all. It was a means to advocate for partisan “city” interests at the expense of all others. King Jim had the final say, and when he said no and got challenged, the city did what it always does. F off. Take us to court. We dare you.
Using a system you are convinced you control, or can game to stymie, undermine, or bankrupt the peeps into silence, is what they do. Most folks would be intimidated. Most of them are. Many don’t even know or understand their rights.
Beth and Stephen Scaer took Nashua to court, and even then, the city was arrogant and dismissive despite how painfully obvious and unconstitutional the behavior was.
It is the hallmark of the Donchess era. Let them sue you; it’s not their money being spent to defend bad behaviors, and they can use that as an excuse to smear the people they made sue the city.
Case in point. Nashua City employees, Megan Caron, Kathleen Palmer, and Emily Vassar had a text exchange (part of discovery) in which they referred to the plaintiffs as Turds and bitches.
The lawsuit the city won is presumed to have been one of many brought by ‘Grok author, Laurie Ortolano, who, if you read her work, was likely trying to pry open public records or force accountability from one of the most corrupt and least transparent city governments in the state. The city has wasted vast sums hiding things they don’t want made public.
As for the turds and bitches comments, these are city employees who are clearly either idiots or just so partisan that they can’t imagine why government-enforced viewpoint discrimination would be bad for any citizen, including themselves.
I wonder if they’ve participated in any No Kings rallies, because while likely, it would be doubly sad. Their “boss,” Jim Donchess, acts like a king, suppressing speech and access to documents, while engaging (allegedly) in shady antics involving City projects.
As for the Scaers’, we’ve followed their battles and the ensuing lawsuit every step of the way (they both write for GraniteGrok), and while we’re excited that they won, the punishment didn’t rise to a level necessary to change the city’s behavior (IMO).
A federal district court in New Hampshire has entered a judgment against the City of Nashua in Scaer, et al. v. City of Nashua, a First Amendment case challenging the city’s viewpoint-based censorship of citizen flag requests.
The judgment, accepted by Institute for Free Speech clients Bethany and Stephen Scaer and entered by the court, orders Nashua to permanently maintain a policy closing the City Hall flagpoles to private expression and prohibits the city from resuming the discriminatory practices at the heart of the lawsuit.
The pole can no longer fly BLM flags, or any of the score or more gender-unicorn flags. And the City may yet end up paying legal costs for trying to protect its unconstitutional acts by forcing people to sue it, but I was hoping for something more damaging.
Not expecting. Not flying a flag is hardly a hardship, though the harassment from city officials and the endless runaround have costs. Not anything that rises to a massive payout, forcing the city insurers to take a second look at the risk.
The win is symbolic but not damaging.
The Scaers’ claims for declaratory and injunctive relief were resolved by the First Circuit’s December ruling and the terms of the judgment. The district court also ordered the city to pay nominal damages to each plaintiff in the amount of $17.91 (symbolic of the year of the First Amendment’s ratification), plus certain applicable costs and interest. The remaining question of attorneys’ fees will be addressed in subsequent proceedings. Local counsel Roy S. McCandless assisted the Institute in defending the Scaers’ First Amendment rights.
It is not clear what The Donchess will do with his barren pole, other than giving birds a place to sit and crap, but I’d be unsurprised if he flew something that got the city sued again. He does, after all, appear to fit the personality profile of the dark triad. And it’s not his money if he finds himself back in court.
And Republicans in Nashua can’t seem to find someone to run against him with the fire to make all his scandals the centerpieces of a campaign.
If you don’t know what those are, our pages are filled with them. The flag flap was just one of many.
Be smart. Run someone as a moderate who is registered Republican, and then if they win, pull a Spanberger in reverse. Advocate for lower taxes, smaller government, and even if you can’t manage that, ‘cuz your alderman will still be stooges to the left-wing cabal, make a point of doc dumping everything from the Donchess era, right after you fire and replace the city’s legal team.
Make transparency and accountability jobs one. Open up the city hall, honor right-to-know requests, and make all the Performing Arts Center docs public. Expose the scam. Make the County DA and the State AG uncomfortable for failing to open investigations.
DOGE Nashua.
I know, never gonna happen, and not just because no one has the guts. But a guy can dream, and on an excellent occasion for such things. Nashua was clearly engaging in viewpoint discrimination, and they got called out for it. No more flying gay flags on the city pole. But I bet you they’ll fly something. Donchess is too much of a douchebag not to test the ruling.
And he’s not the only douchebag.
