What is all the debate about the debate? (Part 2: Did the Atlantic Highlands Mayoral candidate use her official position to silence her opponent?)

Is this another form of censorship?

Creating a false narrative that you know will avoid the opportunity for a debate seems like another form of censorship.  This is especially true when you are a government official, or a councilperson.  In that case, when you are asked by a resident/council candidate to have an in-person debate and you use your position to strike it down, it's very likely a civil rights violation. At least that's what the Supreme Court said:

Discussion of public issues and debate on the qualifications of candidates, the Supreme Court concluded, are forms of political expression integral to the system of government established by the federal Constitution. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S. Ct. 612, 46 L. Ed. 2d 659 (1976).

In general, content-based restrictions on speech—laws that “appl[y] to particular speech because of the topic discussed or the idea or message expressed”—are presumptively unconstitutional and subject to strict scrutiny. Reed, 135 S. Ct. at 2226-27.

See: Congressional Research Service, Jan 2019. www.crs.gov.

So, what happened the last time this came up?

This happened at a Harbor Commission meeting last October 6, 2021. During the meeting, there was a request by Ms. O’Dwyer to have an in-person debate.  (Recall there were six candidates that year and at that time all had agreed between themselves to have an in-person debate). The request was made properly to the Harbor Commission and when it came up for a vote, Hohenleitner led the charge in denying it (11:25 minutes in), stating she did not want politics in the harbor. She came out strongly against the request and specifically mentioned the League of Women Voters zoom debate, which she favored. 

Apparently, she didn't know that a government official shouldn’t deny speech based on viewpoint, especially political speech. It's long been held to be a First Amendment violation to deny somebody the chance to speak in a government setting regarding their political point of view. You can limit the time, the place, and the manner of the speech, but you must make accommodation, or you have violated their rights.  

Did she cross the line?  In my opinion, at a minimum, she came very close.  Our town is lucky the candidates didn't pursue legal action. Two of them didn’t seem to be aware that their rights were likely violated.  In any case, her censorship succeeded. 

Here is a snip from the minutes from the October 6, 2021 harbor meeting if you don’t have time to look for yourself:

The audio is especially telling, ahnj.com/ahnj/AH Harbor/Harbor Meeting Recordings/2021 Recordings/Harbor Commission 10-6-2021.wav , 11:25 minutes in, where she specifically motions to deny the request and at 11:40, even states she has supported political events in the past, but is leading the motion to deny this one. The other members didn’t seem to realize the significance of the denial and went along with it. 

We often hear about “free speech” at council meetings.  Apparently, it’s not all free unless you agree with Hohenleitner, who wants to be our next mayor.  Our public officials must be held to a higher standard. 

We better learn to keep our mouths shut if she wins……