Source: cases/42usc1983/us-601-187-lindke-v-freed.case
Case source: https://www.neochart.com/catalog/cases/clus/volume_601/187/index.html
We hold that such speech is attribut- able to the State only if the offcial (1) possessed actual au- thority to speak on the State's behalf, and (2) purported to exercise that authority when he spoke on social media.
In sum, a defendant like Freed must have actual authority rooted in written law or longstanding custom to speak for the State.
The state-action doctrine requires Lindke to show that Freed (1) had actual authority to speak on behalf of the State on a particular matter, and (2) purported to exercise that authority in the relevant posts.
To the extent that this test differs from the one applied by the Sixth Circuit, we vacate its judgment and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
casedsl 1.2 # author: Flash1 (gemini-3.8-flash-high) # triaged-by: Fable (2026-11-10) case /us/601/187 name Lindke v. Freed cite 601 U.S. 187 (2024) court Supreme Court of the United States date 2024-03-15 url catalog/cases/clus/volume_601/187/index.html source ir/caselaw/clus_601.jsonl sha1=1217078457b051d9febf0064e15dc950842281f3 chars=41836 opinion maj : majority by Barrett @8843..41080 controlling ? opinion: unanimous. The span runs from "Justice Barrett delivered the opinion of the Court" to the Reporter's Note; it embeds the amici footnote (@9347..11275), page headers, and footnote 3 after "It is so ordered."; the syllabus (@0..8843) and Reporter's Note (@41080..) are excluded. party freed : James Freed, city manager of Port Huron, sued in his individual capacity party lindke : Kevin Lindke, the blocked commenter count speech : First Amendment claim for deleting comments and blocking on Facebook theory mixed-use-page : whether an official's posts on a mixed personal / job-related social-media page are state action law 42usc1983 role rule-announced posture civil; citizen sued city manager under § 1983 alleging a First Amendment violation after the manager deleted his comments and blocked him on Facebook; district court granted summary judgment to the manager for want of state action; CA6 affirmed; certiorari granted; vacated and remanded for application of the two-part state-action test result remanded element color-of-law : not-reached route public-official pattern city manager's public Facebook page mixing personal and job-related posts, neither labelled personal nor official; critic's comments deleted and critic blocked party freed count speech theory mixed-use-page fact @13399..13539 [supports] | He described himself as “Daddy to Lucy, Husband to Jessie and City Manager, Chief Administrative Offcer for the citizens of Port Huron, MI.” fact @13609..13707 [cuts-against] | And, as before his appointment, Freed posted prolifically (and primarily) about his personal life. fact @16145..16216 [neutral] | Initially, Freed deleted Lindke's comments; ultimately, he blocked him. rule @11927..12143 | We hold that such speech is attribut- able to the State only if the offcial (1) possessed actual au- thority to speak on the State's behalf, and (2) purported to exercise that authority when he spoke on social media. rule @33251..33377 | In sum, a defendant like Freed must have actual authority rooted in written law or longstanding custom to speak for the State. rule @40199..40408 | The state-action doctrine requires Lindke to show that Freed (1) had actual authority to speak on behalf of the State on a particular matter, and (2) purported to exercise that authority in the relevant posts. held @40409..40585 | To the extent that this test differs from the one applied by the Sixth Circuit, we vacate its judgment and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. gloss The Court announces a two-part test for when a public official's social-media activity is state action under § 1983 (actual authority to speak for the State on the matter; purporting to exercise it in the relevant posts) and does not apply it to Freed's page. ? polarity: the Court applies nothing; polarities follow its own test (appearance alone cannot supply authority, so the "City Manager" self-description supports only at the second step). element deprivation.first-amendment : not-reached party lindke count speech gloss Merits of the First Amendment claim not reached: the case was remanded on the threshold state-action inquiry.