Judge refuses to order TV station back on air

PORTLAND – A federal judge has refused to order Biddeford’s local public-access television station back on the air.

U.S. District Judge Brock Hornby ruled Friday that Biddeford has the right to shut down the station while it attempts to develop rules for use of the city-owned station.

Hornby’s ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Richard Rhames, a former Biddeford city councilor, and the Maine Civil Liberties Union, who claimed that Biddeford’s shutdown of the station violated freedom of speech.

In his ruling, Hornby wrote that the city cannot take an indefinite amount of time to develop new rules.

The ruling also quoted comments made by City Councilor James Grattelo that anyone who doesn’t like what’s on Channel 2 shouldn’t have to shut off the TV.

If the city’s cable-TV ordinance were to mirror Grattelo’s sentiments, “the First Amendment violation would be clear,” Hornby wrote.

Grattelo praised Hornby’s decision not to force the station back on the air before new rules are written.

“If someone doesn’t like what’s on public access, they should shut off the TV,” he said. “But public access is a privilege, not a right, and we need rules by which the station is governed.”