TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on Oct 31, 2023

Authorities in Dickson County have settled a First Amendment lawsuit for $125,000 filed by a man who said he was arrested over a disparaging social media post about a law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty, News Channel 9 reports. Joshua Andrew Garton was arrested in 2021 after posting a meme depicting two people urinating on a gravestone with a photo of a Dickson County sheriff’s officer who was fatally shot in 2018. The officer's face was pasted into the image. Garton was charged with harassment and jailed for almost two weeks until a Dickson County judge dismissed the charges. Garton's attorneys, who filed a federal lawsuit in Nashville, said Monday the settlement compensated Garton for malicious prosecution, false arrest, and violations of his First Amendment rights.