City of Cape Coral to pay resident ousted from meetings $100,000 to settle civil rights lawsuit
The city of Cape Coral will pay a resident ejected from one meeting and later arrested for attempting to attend another $100,000 to resolve a federal lawsuit that maintained the man’s civil rights were abridged.
The suit naming the city and Mayor John Gunter alleged that Scott Kempe was “unconstitutionally arrested” in violation of the First and Fourth Amendments.
The settlement was announced Wednesday evening via a release sent to The Breeze:
“Matt Miller-Novak and Derrick Eihausen represented Scott Kempe in his lawsuit against the City of Cape Coral and Mayor Gunter because they unconstitutionally arrested Mr. Kempe in violation of the First and Fourth Amendment. Mr. Kempe merely wanted to express his criticisms of Cape Coral’s handling of Jaycee Park, and the City of Cape Coral acting through Mayor Gunter abused their police power by unlawfully arresting Mr. Kempe to silence him. After filing his suit, the Defendants offered judgment in the amount of $100,000, and Mr. Kempe accepted.
“It takes people like Mr. Kempe enduring these abuses to protect our Constitutional rights as Americans, including those under the Bill of Rights. Mr. Kempe hopes the voters remember that Mayor Gunter and Cape Coral used their police power to punish him for exercising his rights to dissent at a public meeting and peacefully protest.”
City officials confirmed the settlement and said it is not an admission of any wrongdoing on its part.
“The City of Cape Coral has resolved this matter with a settlement of $100,000. This decision was made to avoid prolonged litigation,” the city said in a statement released by its Communications Office Thursday afternoon. “The City has not stipulated or agreed to any validation of the plaintiff’s claims and chose to settle to bring this matter to an expedited conclusion.”
The matter dates back to late last year after Kempe spoke in opposition to redevelopment plans for Jaycee Park during public input at Cape Coral City Council’s Oct. 11 meeting.
Kempe returned to his seat where he later turned his back to the dais.
“Kempe felt that his government was discounting the feedback of its citizens. Kempe turned around in his seat and sat backwards at some point during the meeting to silently protest,” according to his legal complaint.
He was asked to turn around and then told to leave after he declined.
Kempe then tried to attend the Oct. 18 Council meeting and was told to leave pursuant to Council rules which, at that time, banned residents ousted from a meeting from attending subsequent meetings until Council voted to allow them back in.
Kempe showed up for the Dec. 13 meeting and “advocated for his rights” as he said he was informed the ban was improper because the then-rule regarding Council approval to return called only for a vote to be allowed back into the same meeting.
He was arrested and issued a “Notice to Appear” on charges that included resisting/obstructing an officer without violence and trespassing.
The charges were dismissed on Jan. 25 for “insufficient evidence.”
Council subsequently modified the rules to specify how meeting bans were to be handled.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comment provided by the city of Cape Coral