American politician
Ray Scott[1] (born in Youngstown, Ohio) is an American politician. He served as a Republican member of the Colorado State Senate, representing District 7 from January 7, 2015 to January 9, 2023.[2] Previously, Scott served consecutively from January 12, 2011 until January 9, 2013 in the Colorado House of Representatives representing District 54, and from January 9, 2013 to January 7, 2015 representing District 55.
"Fake news" incident
After the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel published a column urging him to advance a bill granting journalists greater access to public records, Scott referred to the article and the newspaper as "fake news" on social media.[7] The newspaper's publisher reacted by threatening to sue.[8]
Ray Scott social media blocking case
On May 13, 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court against Colorado State Senator Ray Scott on behalf of his constituent Anne Landman for blocking her from his official Facebook and Twitter pages. Landman had been able to interact with Scott and others in these spaces until June 2017, until after she wrote an article critical of Senator Scott’s position on climate change and posted it on his official Facebook page. In response, Scott blocked Landman from his official Facebook page and Twitter account. Scott refused many requests from Landman to “unblock” and “unban” her, and even ignored an ethics complaint that Landman and two other blocked constituents had filed with the Colorado State Senate in August 2017.[9] Landman alleged in her ACLU complaint[10] that Scott had violated her First Amendment rights by blocking and banning her from the interactive portions of his official government Facebook page and Twitter account.[11] The complaint cited ten previous legal cases that had been resolved in her favor by that point.
Scott settled the social media blocking case on September 10, 2019 for $25,000, using taxpayer funds to pay Ms. Landman's legal fees. The legal fees Senator Scott's government-funded attorneys charged were not disclosed. The settlement required Scott agree "to refrain from 'blocking' or 'banning' any individuals or organizations, including Ms. Landman and organizations with which she is affiliated," and "refrain from deleting or hiding any comments posted" on his official Facebook page and Twitter account. It was noted in the agreement that Facebook's own software contributed to the lawsuit since using mobile devices to unblock was unsuccessful. The agreement applied "to any official Facebook page and official Twitter account Senator Scott might establish in the future as a government official, even if he is, at that time, holding a different position within the government, whether state, federal, or local, regardless of whether that position is obtained by election, appointment, or employment."[12]
The Grand Junction, Colorado Daily Sentinel published an editorial about the case on September 11, 2019 titled "The Price of Obstinance" which stated, "It's hard to believe that it took state Sen. Ray Scott this long to appreciate — or even understand — how he was trampling on the First Amendment, especially given the number of editorials we've written condemning his practice of blocking critics on social media accounts in which he self-identifies as an elected government official...The right thing to do would have been to take corrective action immediately, unblock constituents and apologize for violating the Constitution. Instead, Scott waited to get sued, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the ACLU's attorneys fees — again, despite our warning that he was playing with fire..."[13]
