Federal Lawsuit Challenges Michigan’s Use of Personal Protection Orders to Silence Lawful Speech

Outside Legal Counsel PLC has today filed a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging how Michigan law is being used to suppress constitutionally protected speech through ex parte Personal Protection Orders (“PPOs”).

The lawsuit argues that Michigan’s cyberstalking-by-proxy statute, MCL 750.411s, when enforced through the state’s nondomestic PPO framework, is being applied in a manner that violates the First Amendment by imposing criminally enforceable gag orders base on how third parties self-react to lawful speech. 

The lawsuit alleges that under current Michigan practice, speech may be restrained even when it does not constitute a true threat, incite violence, and does not involve direct contact with the complainant. Instead, courts are issuing gag orders solely triggered by the downstream reactions of listeners - a theory the lawsuit argues is squarely foreclosed by longstanding Supreme Court precedent, including NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co.

At issue is Michigan law that allows local courts to prohibit citizens from “posting a message through any medium of communication” — including online commentary — without any finding that the speech falls outside First Amendment protection. Once issued, such PPOs are entered into the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) and enforced statewide through immediate arrest authority.

“This case is not about protecting harassment or threats,” said Philip L. Ellison, OLC attorney representing plaintiff Kevin Lindke. “It is about whether the government can legally silence speech simply because how others decide to react to it. The First Amendment does not allow that.”

According to the filing, this listener-reaction framework converts lawful public commentary, criticism, and denunciation into punishable conduct, chilling speech far beyond the individual case at hand.

“When the State conditions free expression on the unpredictable behavior of third parties,” Ellison said, “speech is no longer free. It becomes permission-based.”

The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, asking the federal court to halt enforcement of Michigan’s cyberstalking statute as applied to protected speech and to prevent the continued use of ex parte PPOs as criminally enforceable prior restraints on expression.

Ellison emphasizes that the case raises issues with statewide implications, particularly for journalists, activists, online commentators, and citizens engaged in public debate.

“This is about the lawful architecture of free speech laws in Michigan,” Ellison said. “If these laws can be used this way, no controversial speaker is safe.”

Outside Legal Counsel PLC is a Michigan-based civil rights and constitutional law firm focusing on constitutional and property rights litigation. The firm regularly represents individuals challenging government overreach and unconstitutional enforcement practices.