Lafayette community activist Matthew Humphrey is suing U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, alleging the congressman violated his First Amendment rights by blocking him two years ago from his official Facebook page in retaliation for political criticism.
The lawsuit was filed Oct. 23 in the Western District of Louisiana, with Humphrey represented by Bruce Hamilton of Tulane Law School’s First Amendment Clinic. Humphrey is not seeking damages. Instead, he’s asking the court to declare the alleged blocking unconstitutional and require Higgins, a Republican who represents southwest Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District, to permanently restore his access to the page.
“Rep. Higgins’ censorship chills speech and disagreement with him on the internet,” the suit alleges.
Humphrey declined comment for this story, directing The Current’s questions to the Tulane clinic. Hamilton did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Thursday morning The Current talked briefly with Higgins’ communications director, Mac Malloy, who was not familiar with the lawsuit. We will update this story if we hear back from the congressman’s office.
Humphrey says in the suit he had regularly interacted with the official Congressman Clay Higgins Facebook page, having earned a “Top Fan” badge, before posting on his own page a meme critical of Higgins and tagging the congressman in October 2024. “On or around October 25, 2024, Mr. Humphrey could no longer see or access Rep. Higgins’ Facebook page, indicating that he had been blocked on the official page,” according to the suit.
The lawsuit does not provide details on the meme. It claims Humphrey’s communications with Higgins’ page were core political speech: “They were not obscene, fighting words, threats, or any other kind of unprotected speech.”
The community activist, once arrested and exonerated for speaking out of turn at a public library meeting, argues Higgins’ page serves as an official channel for communicating with constituents about congressional activities — in essence a government-run open forum. Humphrey contends the congressman cannot exclude people from a public channel based on disagreement with their political views.
The lawsuit alleges that blocking Humphrey amounts to viewpoint discrimination prohibited by the First Amendment. The suit also claims other Facebook users have been blocked by Higgins: “Rep. Higgins blocked Plaintiff, and has blocked other users, because of disagreement with the viewpoint of their speech and the contents of their posts, comments, or communications with him.”
The complaint does not cite precedent, instead relying on House rules governing members’ official communications and social media accounts as part of its First Amendment argument. Those rules allow members of Congress to maintain social media accounts to carry out their official duties, including communicating with constituents. The House’s Communications Standards Manual also requires official social media content to relate to members’ congressional responsibilities and comply with federal law and House rules.
The lawsuit does raise questions addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024, when it ruled unanimously that public officials can sometimes be sued for blocking their critics on social media, an issue that first arose for the high court in a case involving President Donald Trump. Whether Humphrey’s case falls into that category is a matter before the federal court.
Higgins, known for his blunt rhetoric and controversies dating back nearly two decades, is serving his fifth term in Congress. He is on the Nov. 3 ballot, having drawn five challengers.
