Martinsville Councilman Aaron Rawls has filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against Martinsville City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides and Martinsville Sheriff's Deputy Reva Keen.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Danville, asks for compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial, including attorneys fees and costs to Rawls and any additional relief as determined by the court.
The filing stems from Rawls being ejected from a regular council meeting in Council Chambers on March 25. Rawls claims the action violated his rights under the First, Fourth, and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
In the lawsuit, Rawls claims to have been criticizing the leadership of the city, and declaring his opposition to a pay raise for the city manager during the time allotted for him to speak and, in response, an armed deputy sheriff, acting at the direction of the city manager, seized Rawls and forced him to leave his chair, leave the meeting, and leave the building where the meeting was being held.
Rawls intends to vindicate his rights under the Constitution, "and, in a larger sense, the rights of all citizens of Martinsville who may harbor views critical of their local government," the lawsuit states.
Rawls and his attorney, William Hurd of Richmond, declined to comment on the case. Ferrell-Benavides is on medical leave and could not be reached, and Martinsville Sheriff Steve Draper said his office will "have no comment at this point."
The lawsuit explains that Rawls took his seat on the dais along with other city council members at the March 25 meeting. Ferrell-Benavides also sat on the dais and Keen was also present, dressed in her uniform, displaying her badge, and carrying a firearm.
Rawls, who opposed a pay raise that had been given to the city manager, was using a portion of his time noted on the agenda as "Comments by Members of City Council" to express his displeasure of the decision, the lawsuit states.
Mayor LC Jones was presiding over the meeting and responsible for preserving order and decorum, according to the Rules of City Council provided as an exhibit in the lawsuit.
"Neither the city manager nor any deputy sheriff has any authority to initiate any action with respect to the preservation of order and decorum among members of city council at a meeting of the council," the lawsuit states.
Jones granted Rawls the floor for comments and although the rules state that a speaker may not go "beyond reasonable standards of courtesy in his or her remarks," they do not impose limitations on what a member of city council may say while speaking during the "Comments by Council Members" portion of the agenda, the lawsuit states.
Rawls used part of his time to complain about the quality of leadership in the city of Martinsville and to express his view that a pay raise for such leadership was unwarranted. Unknown to Rawls at the time — and not publicly disclosed before or during the March 25 meeting — Jones had already executed a letter contract dated March 18, granting Ferrell-Benavides a 15% pay raise. Rawls learned about the March 18 letter when it was reported in the news around April 30, almost one full month after the April 1 date that Ferrell-Benavides' pay raise took effect, the lawsuit states.
During his comments, Rawls made it clear that he was not in favor of a pay raise for the city manager, but did not go "beyond reasonable standards of courtesy" in his remarks nor did he mention the city manager by name or title. Regardless, when Rawls made his comments, Jones directed him to "fall in order," the lawsuit states.
Rawls asked for clarification of the meaning "fall in order," and Jones accused Rawls of "making personal attacks," and took the floor from Rawls saying "Your time's up. We're going to move on." Another exhibit attached to the lawsuit provides a transcribed account of the exchange.
During this time, Keen moved from her position on the opposite side of the room from Rawls and walked to where Rawls was sitting on the dais and Councilman Julian Mei had begun speaking.
"By her show of authority as deputy sheriff, by her physically seizing Rawls with her hand, and by her words, Keen made it clear to Rawls that his freedom of movement was being restrained by Keen, that Rawls was not free to remain in his seat on the dais, that Rawls was being required by Keen to accompany her through the exit door of the City Council Chambers and then to the exit door of the building, where Keen required him to leave the building (ordering him 'Outside. Go on outside,') and that compliance with her demands would be compelled if he refused," the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, at no point did Jones, who was presiding over the meeting, call upon Keen to take the action she did, nor did he do or say anything to indicate that Rawls was to be removed or threaten to have him removed.
Rawls left because he was made to do so, and if he did not, would likely risk further physical compulsion, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that Keen not only had no legitimate authority to remove Rawls, she did so on instructions from Ferrell-Benavides, "who can be seen in a video giving Keen non-verbal signals for her to accost Rawls."
"Keen and Ferrell-Benavides acted in concert as part of a pre-conceived plan for Keen to seize and remove Rawls if Ferrell-Benavides signaled her to do so" while "Ferrell-Benavides had no legitimate role … and no legitimate authority or right to cause the removal of Rawls," the lawsuit states.
The actions by Keen and Ferrell-Benavides caused Rawls to suffer personal humiliation in front of members of the Martinsville community who were present at the meeting and others who have seen videos of the meeting posted on the internet. Unless Keen and Ferrell-Benavides are restrained by the Court, the act could be repeated, the suit states.
The counts of the lawsuit claim that Rawls rights as guaranteed by the free speech clause of the First Amendment, his rights against unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment, his rights against deprivation of liberty under the First and 14th Amendments, and his rights of equal protection under the 14th Amendment were violated.
The lawsuit also asks that the court issue preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting Keen and Ferrell-Benavides from having Rawls removed from any future meeting of city council.
