LINCOLN- Earlier this year, a board member, Melissa Temple, of the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District filed a federal lawsuit against her colleagues for leveling sanctions against her after she criticized the behavior of another board member. Temple, who won election to represent eastern Norfolk on the NRD Board, was removed from her subcommittee assignments and barred from being reimbursed for travel expenses by her colleagues.

On Tuesday, Temple sued the Board in U.S. District Court in Lincoln for violating her First Amendment right to free speech. "I can't fully do my job or advocate for the public good or protect my constituents if my free speech is sanctioned," said Temple. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Temple by the University of Nebraska College of Law's First Amendment Clinic, a newly created and student-driven organization that seeks to defend those who believe they've had their First Amendment rights challenged.

According to the complaint filed by the Clinic, Temple said that she witnessed another member of the Board, Scott Clausen, interrupt and make condescending comments to a local business executive during the public comment period of one of the Board's meetings. The lawsuit also alleges that Clausen made derogatory remarks about Temple, including that she was "not smart enough" to be on a proposed committee. Temple then called out Clausen for his remarks, prompting the Board to sanction her.

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