A northern Colorado town accused of censoring critics on social media has agreed to pay one man blocked by the local government $45,000, according to court records.
Jered Morgan took to Facebook late last year to criticize the and its chief of police, Jonathan Lange, after drivers started receiving hefty fines for speeding along a nearby Weld County road, according to a federal lawsuit filed in the District of Colorado.
Fake profiles he believed belonged to Lange and his wife started about the legality of the fines, Morgan told The Denver Post. When he commented on the town of Kersey’s Facebook page directly in December 2025, his comments were removed and he was blocked, the lawsuit alleged.
“I was just kinda shocked,” Morgan said. “It was pretty blatant that they were trying to censor me.”
The tickets, generated by radar equipment, charged drivers $340 for speeding 25 mph or more over the posted speed limit, . But caps the fines municipalities can charge for photo speeding tickets at $40 on regular roads and $80 in school or construction zones.
“In response to the firestorm caused by these actions, Kersey actively sought to silence its critics online. Morgan was among those critics,” the lawsuit stated.
The town’s posted social media policy allowed officials to delete all comments “deemed crude, inappropriate, misleading, or hostile” and to block any users who repeatedly posted comments that were removed for those reasons, according to the lawsuit. Morgan’s attorneys alleged in the lawsuit that the policy discriminated against content and viewpoints, violating the First Amendment.
“These actions were not taken with malice or with the intent of limiting public discourse,” Kersey Mayor Nathan Roth and Town Manager Stacy Brown said in a joint statement. “Rather, Town staff acted in accordance with the Town’s social media guidelines and with a focus on maintaining a safe and respectful online environment.”
Morgan’s account “could not clearly be identified and was believed to potentially be an individual who had previously been subject to a restraining order for the harassment of a Town employee,” the statement continued.
The town settled the lawsuit outside of court, agreeing to pay Morgan $45,000 and revise its social media policy, according to a document provided to The Denver Post by Morgan’s attorneys. Kersey officials will only delete comments or block users who “post true threats or fighting words, post obscenities, or violate any state or federal law through their posting,” the document stated. The town will also add annual training on First Amendment principles for Kersey employees.
Town officials agreed to the settlement to dismiss the case and deny any liability or wrongdoing, the document states. The case was dismissed on Thursday, court records show.
