Dear Friends,
This is an update that I have hoped to write for a long time. A lot has happened, so this will be a bit simplified.
First, a quick recap. The City of Moscow made illegal arrests at a Christ Church organized psalm sing/covid protest back in 2020. My sons protested these arrests by posting satirical (non damaging, 3″, vinyl) stickers on poles downtown. For the first and only time in Moscow’s history, the posting of stickers (or signs or fliers or anything else) was treated criminally. Initially, the City of Moscow charged Rory Wilson with 13 misdemeanors (I was charged as an accessory for making the stickers), while Latah County charged Seamus (then a juvenile) for the same protest. And so our long legal slog began.
Not long after it was discovered that MPD had falsely denied the existence of video of the incident for a year (while officers had been viewing it), Seamus wrote a spicy paper (here) and Latah County dropped all charges against him. Moscow, however, proceeded to a JURY trial against Rory. The judge instructed the jury that the First Amendment was not relevant. With Rory’s constitutional defense excluded from the courtroom, he was found guilty of one count of placing a sticker on a pole without permission, an activity he did not deny. When I requested my own trial date (after ~20 months of prosecution), Moscow dropped all criminal charges against me without explanation. Seamus and I were free and clear, and our appeals of Rory’s criminal guilt began.
Meanwhile, the statute of limitations was ticking on any civil/constitutional claims that we could make in federal court. Those claims were filed, and we are grateful that our representation of those claims was taken over pro bono by Robert Muise at the American Freedom Law Center. However, a federal judge froze that side of things pending a final outcome on Rory’s criminal appeal.
In an unexpected and disappointing turn of events, Idaho’s Attorney General, Raul Labrador, shouldered the case on behalf of the City of Moscow and spent Idaho tax dollars and resources fighting against Rory’s free speech claims in Idaho’s courts. Our AG continued to defend Moscow’s leftist overreach (at significant expense) all the way up to SCOTUS. This despite Labrador’s campaign promises to fight on the side of constitutional freedom against abuses exactly like what Rory was experiencing. When our state AG took over the fight against us, Stone Hilton PLLC joined Rory’s team. Judd Stone is the former Solicitor General of Texas and a true advocate of constitutional freedom. Rory’s appeal was also supported by the First Amendment clinics at the law schools of Duke, Cornell, and SMU, as well as The Thomas More Society and the Protect the First Foundation (you can read here). Not having spoken to Labrador or anyone in his office, we can only guess that some of his staff decided to oppose our constitutional appeal against the City of Moscow without his knowledge. But once they’d committed Labrador and our state’s resources to the progressive cause, he was too proud to backtrack. At least, that’s the kindest theory we’ve come up with to date.
Anyhow, Trump was keeping SCOTUS pretty tied up, and they declined to take up Rory’s case. At that point, the case traveled all the way back down to the original trial court. And this is where things got interesting. This criminal fight had lasted five years, and the original trial judge had moved on. Rory wrote a spicy paper of his own, and our criminal defense attorneys requested that the case be dismissed and the guilty verdict set aside. To our surprise, that’s what happened. Rory’s guilty verdict was set aside, and the case was dismissed. Five years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, but still. The case has been dismissed. The guilty verdict from the jury trial has been set aside. The reality is still barely sinking in.
The criminal side of this fight has finally ended, and that chapter has closed in Rory’s favor. As a result of this outcome, our constitutional claims in federal court have been unfrozen, and that is now where all activity on this case will continue (more details here).
To say that we are grateful is an understatement. We are grateful to have reached this point and for all your support and prayers over the course of this long, exhausting, and expensive slog. And we are grateful to be one step closer to living in a town that will no longer selectively prosecute political criticism.
Please continue to pray for us as we now dig out of accumulated legal bills. And pray that our case in federal court would be fruitful. And as you do, please thank God for this outcome after such a long and winding road.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!
Nate
P.S. As the year ends, consider supporting the American Freedom Law Center. They are a lean operation fighting the good fight on a number of important religious and cultural fronts.