NH Supreme Court sets oral arguments in Clay appeal

ALTON — The state Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in the case of town government critic Jeffrey Clay who is appealing his conviction for disrupting a selectmen’s meeting more than two years ago.

A panel of three justices will hear arguments on whether a District Court judge erred when he found Clay guilty of actions when he failed to confine his remarks to an item on the agenda of the February 2017 meeting, and then balked when a police officer attempted to escort him from the room.

Judge Michael Garner found Clay guilty in January 2018 of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Two months later Garner reaffirmed his decision when he denied Clay’s motion to set aside the judgments.

Clay was arrested at that meeting when he refused the instructions by the chairman of the Board of Selectmen to address only matters on the board's agenda, and then allegedly impeded a police officer attempting to lead him out of the meeting room.

In finding Clay guilty, Garner fined him $600 ($300 on each charge), plus a $144 penalty assessment.

Clay has contented that town officials are violating his free speech rights by stifling his ability to criticize them and their actions.

The appeal will be heard by three of the Supreme Court’s five justices. Under Supreme Court rules, the three justices will have to be unanimous in their opinion. If they differ, then the case will have to be referred to the full court for a decision.

– Michael Mortensen