Don Benton goes after citizen on comments

Matt A. Fikse

Matt A. Fikse Jul 1, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Don Benton goes after citizen on comments</h1>
                <h2><p>State Sen. Don Benton and an attorney have sent a letter to a Clark County resident, 80-year-old Ed Barnes, asking him to stop criticizing Benton as unqualified for his new (additional) job as head of the county's environmental services office, according to The Columbian. Benton tells reporter Erik</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mattfikse-gmail-com/">Matt A. Fikse</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>State Sen. Don Benton and an attorney have sent a letter to a Clark County resident, 80-year-old Ed Barnes, asking him to stop criticizing Benton as unqualified for his new (additional) job as head of the county's environmental services office, <a href="http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/nov/13/don-benton-threatens-lawsuit-ctitic-clark-county/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">according to The Columbian</a>. Benton tells reporter Erik Hidle that his letter is a courtesy before pursuing legal action which he believes he would win "hands down." As Hidle's excellent article reports, noted Seattle attorney Bruce E.H. Johnson says that Benton would face "a high bar" in court for any attempt to rein in speech about political concerns. And there can be a $10,000 penalty imposed under a 2010 law to ensure lawsuits aren't used to silence legitimate speech. The Columbian says Johnson helped draft the law — and Benton voted for it. Senator, how about taking a deep breath and returning to that happier time when you supported a person's right to criticize? — J.C.</p>
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State Sen. Don Benton and an attorney have sent a letter to a Clark County resident, 80-year-old Ed Barnes, asking him to stop criticizing Benton as unqualified for his new (additional) job as head of the county's environmental services office, according to The Columbian. Benton tells reporter Erik Hidle that his letter is a courtesy before pursuing legal action which he believes he would win "hands down." As Hidle's excellent article reports, noted Seattle attorney Bruce E.H. Johnson says that Benton would face "a high bar" in court for any attempt to rein in speech about political concerns. And there can be a $10,000 penalty imposed under a 2010 law to ensure lawsuits aren't used to silence legitimate speech. The Columbian says Johnson helped draft the law — and Benton voted for it. Senator, how about taking a deep breath and returning to that happier time when you supported a person's right to criticize? — J.C.

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By Matt A. Fikse

Matt Fikse-Verkerk (Twitter: @mattfikse) covered urban affairs, politics, tech, and business at Crosscut from 2009 to 2014. He lives in Seattle and works for a biotechnology firm in Redmond, WA.