Ga. Public Service Commissioner Asks to Stay Discovery

Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols (R) filed a motion to stay (docket 1:22-cv-04548) discovery and discovery-related obligations Wednesday in the lawsuit filed against him by Democratic rival Patty Durand in U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta. The motion to stay discovery was based on Echols’ motion to dismiss Monday on the grounds that he unblocked Durand from posting to his social media accounts, one of the claims in her First Amendment suit (see 2302010036). Durand voluntarily dismissed her motion for a preliminary injunction last month after Echols committed to not deleting any comments on social media accounts, but her claim for monetary damages remained pending. Durand sued Echols in November for allegedly retaliating against her and violating her free speech rights under the First and 14th amendments by deleting and blocking her posts on his social media accounts. The status of the election is in limbo after U.S. District Court Judge Steven Grimberg ruled in August that the PSC’s at-large elections violate the Voting Rights Act. That ruling is under appeal at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.