This Move Shows King Knows He May Have Violated 1st Amendment Rights of His Own Constituents
Finally…
After years of using a campaign account to announce official Congressional business, Congressman Peter King launched an official Facebook account to communicate with his constituents.
King, who had blocked more than 70 people from his “Congressman Peter King” page, was shamed into creating this newest page after the New York Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue if he did not end his years-long practice of banning constituents from commenting.
“It took the threat of a lawsuit, but Congressman King has finally agreed to allow his constituents to communicate with him. It’s a sorry state of affairs, but a victory for the people of the 2nd Congressional District of New York nonetheless. Old habits die hard, and we hope he won’t block constituents from commenting on his official account going forward. He’s been at this for nearly thirty years, if he doesn’t want to hear from his constituents, he should retire.” said DCCC Spokesperson Christine Bennett.
As a reminder, among those banned from the Congressman’s page are:
- A Great River resident who was banned minutes after confronting you about deleting comments: “Why are so many posts disappearing? Last night it seemed like over half the people did not agree with what Congressman King had to say, now they are all gone . . . . Aren’t Congressmen supposed to represent and listen to all his constituents even those that don’t agree with him?”
- A Brightwaters resident who was banned shortly after commenting, “I am really surprised that comments asking about your upcoming votes keep getting deleted. It is either that you don’t want to explain it to non-press members or you want all the comments on your post to appear positive. I’m not sure what is worse, but it is incredibly disappointing you won’t engage with anyone unless they’re complimenting you.”
- A Seaford resident who was banned the day after commenting, “Your vote yesterday was unthinkably irresponsible and does not begin to account for the thousands of constituents in your district who rely upon many of the services and provisions provided for them by the ACA, which the AHCA would strip….”
King also blocked constituents who called on him to hold regular Town Halls:
- A West Islip resident who was banned after commenting, “Just listened to the phone town hall. Lots of personal issues and chitchat. Lots of important national issues not addressed due to time limits. We need a live town hall like those held by Suozzi and Rice.”
- A Massapequa resident who was banned the day after commenting, “Since you don’t have the guts to face your constituents in a real town hall, I was on your virtual town hall conference call. During it, you asserted that the NY Times lies on its front page. Like the person who currently inhabits the highest office in this land, you make assertions without providing any backup. Your constituents deserve to hear from you just which stories the NY Times has published you believe are untrue, and then the Times can respond. If you aren’t able to provide any such facts, the Times deserves an apology.”
###