Should Taxpayers Pay For Legislators' Social Media Lawsuit Defense?

A legislator was sued, but won a lawsuit challenging her management of her Facebook page. Now, the legislature has approved $48,000 to pay her lawyer fees.

An interesting case reported today by The North Dakota Monitor raises questions about what the public’s liability should be when elected officials are sued for their own private actions:

North Dakota lawmakers voted Thursday to reimburse Sen. Janne Myrdal for the nearly $50,000 the senator spent defending herself after a constituent sued her for blocking him on Facebook.

The motion was brought by Senate Majority Leader David Hogue, who said lawmakers should not have to suffer financially because of frivolous legal attacks.

“I think it’s appropriate that we as legislators protect one another from these forms of harassment,” the Minot Republican said during a Thursday Legislative Management meeting.

Myrdal was sued in May 2023 by Park River resident Mitchell Sanderson, who is in her district. Sanderson said in legal filings that Myrdal had violated his First Amendment rights by blocking him from her Facebook page — and that Myrdal had only done so because she disagreed with his political be…