ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A St. Johns County commissioner filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against her fellow commissioners after they accused her of unlawfully campaigning during a public meeting.
In November of last year, St. Johns County Commissioner Krista Joseph railed over things she said were going on in the county, including unchecked development, and waved a small American flag and a flyer about the county primary in August that will have three of the other commissioners up for re-election. (Watch what she said in the video above)
Joseph, who is known for going against the grain and voting opposite her commission colleagues, was cut short and called out by two commissioners who accused her of campaigning from her chair. Joseph said she was just making a public service announcement.
The general counsel for the county told her at the time she had crossed the line of decorum and civility and she stopped.
The commission then hired outside counsel to provide an opinion on Joseph’s remarks and found that her speech constituted criminal election interference, and said it could be referred to the state attorney’s office for possible charges.
On December 5, 2023, the commission voted to censure Joseph for her speech.
Joseph filed a federal lawsuit against the commission and State Attorney R.J. Larizza and is seeking a declaratory judgment affirming that her First Amendment rights include being able to “make her political views known to the citizens of St Johns County in connection with the primary election, including her preference that voters vote out incumbent commissioners.”
Joseph’s lawsuit says “the threat of criminal prosecution is sufficient to chill her political speech.”
No court hearings have been scheduled yet.
St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners Chair Sarah Arnold issued a long written response to the lawsuit on Thursday.
“I fight to protect first amendment rights as they are fundamental to the foundation of the United States. However, I take just as seriously the integrity of civility and the laws that all elected officials, like myself, take an oath to follow. We are held to a higher standard to the rules and regulations that govern us, including State ethics.
To that point, I will continue to be the steward of the taxpayers’ dollars. Commissioner Krista Keating-Joseph, as all political officials, is expected to lobby and campaign. However, what is explicitly forbidden is to do so with the use of her public office, during a public meeting and while using public resources, for the purpose of furthering her campaign agenda. The laws that Commissioner Krista Keating-Joseph has likely broken have been long established to allow officials with differing opinions to come together and do the business of government. We have passed the realm of decorum and have entered a degree of breaking the law, as the independent legal analysis has affirmed of Commissioner Krista Keating-Joseph’s actions.
The outside legal analysis of Commissioner Krista Keating-Joseph’s actions stated, ‘We have concluded that Commissioner Joseph likely violated section 104.31. … It is therefore undeniable that Commissioner Joseph was using her official authority and influence to make the election-related comments on November 21, 2023… was clearly making a campaign speech… a reasonable factfinder is likely to conclude that her behavior was willful and remains so.’”
Sarah Arnold, Chair, St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners