Benito Beet Beat responded to the subpoena to Meta for a previously published cartoon with this follow-up cartoon.
With headline after headline about the current president’s attacks on free speech, it can be easy to forget that the war on the First Amendment didn’t start on Inauguration Day 2025. Nor does it stop at the federal level.
I’ve spent most of my 30-year legal career defending freedom of speech. No constitutional right is more important yet under more chronic assault. I’ve fought free speech battles with cities, counties, school districts, public universities, state agencies, and federal officials. Last week, I fought another one, this time to defend First Amendment rights in rural San Benito County.
Benito Beet Beat is a publication on Facebook that, in its own words, serves up “a fresh, satirical slice of local politics and news—directly from the root of San Benito County. We peel back the layers of boardroom blunders and county capers, spicing it up with a dash of irony.” In the best tradition of political satire, it publishes cartoons that skewer powerful figures.
Unsurprisingly in a rural community, the authors of Benito Beet Beat are anonymous. The First Amendment right to anonymous speech is embedded in American history. The Federalist Papers, written anonymously to advocate ratification of the Constitution, are but one prominent example. Anonymity protects unpopular dissenters from retaliation or ostracism.
On November 3, Benito Beet Beat published a cartoon that satirized the county board of supervisors’ decision not to renew a contract for security services at the county’s behavioral health clinic. The contract expired October 31, and the nonrenewal placed staff at risk in the event security guards were not present the following Monday.
The cartoon depicted an imaginary situation in which a staff member said “We’re in danger! Call security now!” because a person in mental distress seeking help at the clinic said, “Voices are telling me I need to hurt a supervisor or his kids!” while another staff member thought, “We cut security because Velazquez told us to do it,” referring to county supervisor Ignacio Velazquez, who prompted the decision not to renew the contract.
Above all else, the First Amendment protects exactly this kind of speech criticizing the prominent and powerful. On its face and in context, the cartoon is obviously political satire. No reasonable person could see it as an actual threat to cause harm or incitement of others to do so.
Yet on November 18, professing to believe that the cartoon threatened the safety of one or more supervisors or their families, the board voted unanimously to issue a subpoena directing Meta to produce records identifying Benito Beet Beat’s authors by December 2. Perhaps ironically, three of the supervisors also reposted the cartoon on various Facebook pages.
With only days to spare, I sent a letter to the board on November 24 asking it to withdraw the subpoena. When the county failed to respond, I filed a lawsuit on the morning of November 26, the day before Thanksgiving, seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the county from violating the First Amendment right to anonymous speech.
Soon after we filed the lawsuit, the court scheduled an emergency hearing by Zoom at 3 pm the same day. After hearing from both sides, the court granted the order from the bench, issuing a written ruling later in the evening. The county later confirmed the subpoena was withdrawn.
Thanks to FAC’s nimble response to a free speech emergency, the First Amendment remains intact in San Benito County, but it doesn’t enforce itself. FAC’s work defending free speech, a free press, and the people’s right to know has never been more important.