A U.S. appeals court will determine whether two lawsuits alleging First Amendment violations move forward against Tarrant County and Judge Tim O\u2019Hare.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit<\/a> Bishop Mark Kirkland filed against the county and O\u2019Hare in January is paused until the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether to reconsider a lawsuit Kirkland\u2019s attorney, CJ Grisham, filed against the county judge last year. Both men allege that O\u2019Hare violated their constitutional right to freedom of speech when he had them removed from public meetings of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court.<\/p>\n A magistrate judge canceled the Aug. 28 hearing to settle Kirkland\u2019s lawsuit, citing U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman\u2019s decision to wait on the appeals court before further judgment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe related case before the Fifth Circuit is substantially similar in posture and involves the constitutionality of precisely the same county rules of decorum,\u201d Pittman wrote in an Aug. 6 court filing.<\/p>\n The cancellation issued Aug. 7 came three days after O\u2019Hare earned state headlines<\/a> for ordering all attendees to leave the commissioners courtroom when some of them clapped after he told them not to during a public meeting. A former Tarrant County state lawmaker was arrested and carried<\/a> out of the courtroom by sheriff deputies after continuing to speak when O\u2019Hare cut off his public comments.<\/p>\n Grisham, an attorney and gun rights activist from Temple, alleges that O\u2019Hare violated the First Amendment when the county judge had him removed from a commissioners court meeting for using profanity<\/a> in January 2025. U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means dismissed the lawsuit in April, and Grisham is appealing that decision.<\/p>\n Kirkland, a Fort Worth pastor, sued O\u2019Hare days after the county judge had him removed from a commissioners court meeting in December \u2014 then refiled the suit in January after it was tossed<\/a> out for logistical errors. O\u2019Hare had cut Kirkland\u2019s speaking time short when the pastor commented<\/a> on the county judge ordering attendees not to clap during the meeting.<\/p>\n Each lawsuit seeks $250,000 in damages.<\/p>\n O\u2019Hare is no longer named in Kirkland\u2019s lawsuit after Pittman granted him qualified immunity, which protects government officials from liability for civil damages as long as their conduct doesn\u2019t violate \u201cclearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known,\u201d according to a 1982 Supreme Court decision<\/a>. Pending the decision on Grisham\u2019s case, Kirkland\u2019s suit would move forward against the county.<\/p>\n Grisham told the Fort Worth Report he feels confident in his appeal \u201cbecause the First Amendment is probably the most litigated of all the rights.\u201d He hopes the suits\u2019 outcome will deter O\u2019Hare from continuing to remove people from the commissioners court and set a legal precedent for future grievances.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact of the matter is, our state constitution and the federal constitution are very clear,\u201d Grisham said. \u201cSorry, Tim, we\u2019re allowed to criticize you. We\u2019re allowed to criticize what you do. We\u2019re allowed to criticize your policies. We\u2019re allowed to criticize the government.\u201d<\/p>\n