Colorado State Patrol Facebook Block Costs Taxpayers $50,000

The Denver Post reports that the Colorado State Patrol has agreed to pay $50,000 to a Facebook commenter who said the agency violated his First Amendment rights by deleting several of his critical comments and blocking him from posting on the patrol’s Facebook page. The commenter, Jerod Zaczkowski, had threatened to sue after the agency removed comments, including one in which he called patrol members “tyrant Nazi(s).”

According to the article by Seth Klamann, the settlement also requires annual training for the patrol’s public affairs staff on the Department of Public Safety’s social media policy. The patrol acknowledged mistakes in handling its social media page, and Zaczkowski has been unbanned, though his deleted comments were not restored.

The Bullet Point Brief

• Colorado State Patrol is paying $50,000 to settle a threatened First Amendment lawsuit from a Facebook commenter. Congratulations, taxpayers. We just bought a very expensive “don’t delete the troll” lesson.
• The commenter was critical, obnoxious, and not exactly submitting a Hallmark card. But free speech does not only protect polite people using indoor voices.
• CSP deleted several comments and blocked him from posting more in early 2025. That is where the agency stepped out of “moderating a page” and into “please meet our attorney” territory.
• The agency reportedly conceded his First Amendment rights had been violated, unbanned him, and agreed to train public affairs staff annually on social media rules. Better late than never, I suppose, though “read the Constitution before clicking block” might have been cheaper.
• Patrol spokeswoman Sherri Mendez said the agency made mistakes and took steps to make sure they do not happen again. Good. Now please tape that policy to every government keyboard in Colorado.

My Bottom Line

I have a few absolute, insufferable trolls on social media. Every public official does. They live in the comment section like raccoons in a dumpster, scratching around for attention and calling it civic engagement. Fine. That is their First Amendment right, and I respect it.

These folks do not bother me. I rarely comment on the comments. Let them exercise their free speech and show the world exactly how ignorant they are. Sunshine is a wonderful disinfectant, and sometimes it is also a spotlight on stupid.

But government agencies do not get to run public pages like a private clubhouse. Once the state opens a public forum, it does not get to boot people simply because they are rude, annoying, or allergic to decency. That is not how free speech works. The First Amendment was not written to protect compliments. It was written precisely because government needs to be restrained when criticism gets uncomfortable.

Regrettably, CSP is going to learn this lesson with a $50,000 price tag that we, the kind taxpayers, will pay. The troll gets the check. The agency gets the training. The taxpayers get the bill. And somewhere, a government social media manager is hopefully learning the ancient constitutional wisdom of not touching the block button just because somebody hurt your feelings.

Source: Denver Post