Sonya Kenette Brown v. City of Albion, Mich., 136 F.4th 331

Sonya Kenette Brown, an Albion, Michigan City Council member, was prosecuted for violating a City Charter provision prohibiting council members from directing city employee appointments or removals.
Brown's prosecution followed Facebook messages suggesting action against a city official, Scott Kipp, and questioning his conduct as interim city manager.
After an investigation into another city official, Brown's messages about removing Kipp were recovered and made public, leading to her recall from office and a subsequent criminal charge under the Charter.
Brown was acquitted by a jury but then filed a federal suit alleging retaliatory prosecution/arrest, malicious prosecution, conspiracy, and that the Charter provision was unconstitutional.
The district court dismissed most claims at Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to allege lack of probable cause and later granted summary judgment on the constitutional claims; Brown appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Retaliatory prosecution/arrest (probable cause requirement)	Arrest/prosecution was retaliation for protected speech and lacked probable cause.	There was probable cause based on Brown’s own Facebook messages.	Dismissed: Brown’s messages created probable cause; claims fail.
Lozman and Nieves exceptions to probable cause	Exceptions to probable cause pleading should apply based on city policy and lack of comparators.	No official retaliatory policy/allegedly novel conduct; exceptions do not apply.	Exceptions do not apply; must plead lack of probable cause.
Vagueness of Charter § 5.8	Section is too vague; doesn’t give clear guidance to council members.	Section uses common legal terms understandable to ordinary persons.	Section not unconstitutionally vague.
Overbreadth of Charter § 5.8	Criminalizes substantial protected speech under the First Amendment.	Only prohibits non-protected conduct (employment actions), not speech.	Section not unconstitutionally overbroad.

Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978) (municipal liability under § 1983 requires official policy or custom)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009) (plausibility pleading standard)
Hartman v. Moore, 547 U.S. 250 (2006) (First Amendment retaliation claims and probable cause)
Sykes v. Anderson, 625 F.3d 294 (6th Cir. 2010) (malicious prosecution claim elements)
Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104 (1972) (void for vagueness doctrine)
United States v. Williams, 553 U.S. 285 (2008) (First Amendment overbreadth analysis)
R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, 505 U.S. 377 (1992) (speech vs. conduct distinction)
Giboney v. Empire Storage & Ice Co., 336 U.S. 490 (1949) (no protected speech to criminal conduct)