{"id":2457008,"date":"2025-07-08T16:35:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T20:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/libby-drops-censure-lawsuit-in-maine-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T16:35:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T20:35:38","slug":"libby-drops-censure-lawsuit-in-maine-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/libby-drops-censure-lawsuit-in-maine-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Libby drops censure lawsuit in Maine &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flibby-drops-censure-lawsuit-in-maine-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2457008&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Maine Republican state Representative Laurel libby has agreed to drop her lawsuit against the state Legislature after her censure related to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-this-average-american-is-voting-for-donald-trump\/\" title=\"Why This Average American Is ... for Donald Trump\">social media post<\/a> about transgender athletes was lifted. The Democratic-controlled Legislature restored Libby&#8217;s voting and speaking rights on the House floor following a resolution that reversed the censure, which had barred her from participation until she apologized-an apology she refused to give.Libby&#8217;s legal challenge argued that the censure violated her First Amendment rights. Although a lower court initially declined jurisdiction over the matter and the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied her appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-trade-commission-review-could-throw-wrench-in-amazon-mgm-merger\/\" title=\"Federal Trade Commission Review Could Throw Wrench in Amazon-MGM Merger\">preliminary injunction blocking<\/a> the censure. Libby&#8217;s attorney criticized the timing of the Legislature&#8217;s reversal, calling it a symbolic gesture sence the session had ended.Libby maintains that elected officials retain their constitutional rights and that the case underscores their right to free speech in their official capacity.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Libby drops censure lawsuit in Maine<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2169386\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &mdash; A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/maine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Maine<\/a> Republican lawmaker who was censured for a social media post about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/transgender\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">transgender<\/a> athlete is agreeing to drop a lawsuit against the state Legislature after her voting and speaking rights were restored.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a letter to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/federal-courts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">First Circuit Court of Appeals,<\/a> lawyers for state Rep. Laurel&nbsp;Libby said the Auburn Republican won&rsquo;t contest a motion from Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey&rsquo;s office to dismiss her appeal of a lower court ruling, because the case has been resolved.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3465894\/watch-live-noem-tsa-shoes-policy-air-travelers\/\">WATCH LIVE: Noem announces change to TSA shoes policy for air travelers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3465741\/canada-us-relationship-top-threat-canadians\/\">Most Canadians view US under Trump as a &#8216;top threat&#8217;: Study<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3465802\/elon-musk-steve-bannon-jeffrey-epstein-client-list\/\">Musk claims Steve Bannon is on Epstein client list after DOJ denies file exists<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Last month, the Democratic-controlled state Legislature approved a resolution lifting a censure that had prevented the Auburn lawmaker from speaking on the House floor or voting on bills until she publicly apologized for her comments. The&nbsp;reversal came nearly a month after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Libby&rsquo;s censure, and on the final day of the Legislature&rsquo;s formal session.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Libby&rsquo;s attorney, Patrick Strawbridge, said she and other members of the GOP minority had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/even-with-full-control-of-government-democrats-massive-wish-list-is-stalling\/\" title=\"Even With Full Control Of Government, Democrats\u2019 Massive Wish List Is Stalling\">urged democratic leaders<\/a> to reverse the censure vote for the end of the session, but said they refused.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;To only now turn around and reinstate Rep. Libby&rsquo;s speaking and voting rights once the session ends smacks of gamesmanship and is &mdash; at best &mdash; an empty gesture,&rdquo; he wrote to the appeals court clerk. &ldquo;There are no more debates to be had, so lifting the restriction now has no actual effect.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A lawsuit in March by Libby and several of her constituents sought to overturn the censure vote brought by House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, but the legal challenge was rejected by a federal judge who said the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-urges-court-not-to-block-covid-19-vaccine-mandates\/\" title=\"Biden Administration Urges Court Not to Block COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates\">court lacks jurisdiction<\/a> to meddle in the &ldquo;internal&rdquo; policies of the Maine Legislature.<\/p>\n<p>Libby appealed the ruling, but the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied her request in a recent order. She then petitioned the Supreme Court to take up her case, which in May granted a preliminary injunction blocking the House&rsquo; censure vote.<\/p>\n<p>In court filings, Libby&rsquo;s lawyers argued the censure violated her First Amendment rights to free speech and tied it to broader legislative rights. She has refused to apologize or take down the Facebook post.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3465165\/california-rejects-trump-demand-keep-men-out-of-womens-sports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">CALIFORNIA REJECTS TRUMP DEMAND TO &lsquo;KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN&rsquo;S SPORTS&rsquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Libby said Democrats&rsquo; efforts to force her to apologize for the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >social media post failed<\/a>. She&nbsp;believes&nbsp;the case &ldquo;sends a clear message: elected officials do not surrender their constitutional rights at the Capitol steps &mdash; and neither do the people who sent them there.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t get to silence my district through the full term. They didn&rsquo;t get to rewrite the First Amendment,&rdquo; she said in&nbsp;a statement. &ldquo;Instead, they were forced to reverse themselves, admit the truth, and restore the very voice they tried to strip away.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2169386\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2169386\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Libby drops lawsuit after Maine restores her rights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2457009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laurel-libby-maine-rep.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[58656,33211,14426,9148,32076],"class_list":["post-2457008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-censure-lawsuit","tag-legal-news","tag-libby","tag-maine","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laurel-libby-maine-rep.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457008"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2457012,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457008\/revisions\/2457012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2457009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}