In a weekend editorial, the Peoria Journal Star questions the idea that Peoria’s citizens should be footing the mayor’s legal defense costs in the city’s Twittergate lawsuit. Reviewing the suit filed by the ACLU of Illinois on behalf of Jon Daniel, the newspaper reiterated the strengths of Daniel’s claim that his First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when, at the mayor’s instigation, police entered his home, searched and confiscated his cell phone and computer equipment in response to his Twitter parody of the mayor. The editorial again calls on the city “to cut its losses,” challenges the wisdom of the city’s public relations strategy, and maintains that the mayor and city council members must be held responsible and accountable:

As mayor, Ardis’ public responsibilities must trump his personal feelings. If not, well, Peoria isn’t just the mayor’s city. If this is to go forward and taxpayer funds are to be spent, we’d request that every City Council member be on record as to how he or she justifies that — or not — for accountability purposes down the road, however this turns out.

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