By SUZANNE DOWNING
Feb. 2, 2026 – Anchorage Assemblywoman Erin Baldwin Day has staked out a strong rhetorical position in defense of constitutional rights — while simultaneously warning a constituent that he could be blocked from her official Facebook page for calling her a “liberal.”
In one Facebook post, Baldwin Day wrote: “Upholding the Constitution is not, and should never be, a partisan question. Any violation of the constitutional rights of the residents of my community will not be met with polite silence or indifference.”
But in a separate exchange on the same platform, Baldwin Day told a commenter that further comments labeling her a “liberal” would result in him being blocked and directed him to read her page’s “rules of engagement.”
The exchange unfolded after a commenter wrote:
“As in typical liberal female logic- never any accountability – Erin Baldwin Day – Assembly you’re just another liberal disgrace.”
Baldwin Day responded publicly:
“Jar Rod please read the rules of engagement pinned on this page. Policy critique is always welcome, but name-calling will get you blocked. This is your one and only warning.”
The commenter replied:
“Erin Baldwin Day – Assembly name calling?”
Pinned to Baldwin Day’s page is a lengthy set of moderation standards, which she cites as justification for restricting commenters. The rules are posted verbatim as follows:
Rules of Engagement:
I value open conversation, and I welcome disagreement. Healthy debate is part of democracy! That said, there are some clear boundaries for engagement on this page.Here’s what is expected:
• Be respectful. Disagree with ideas, policies, or decisions — personal attacks are out of line.
• Criticism is welcome. Harassment is not.
• No hate speech, slurs, or demeaning language toward any group or individual.
• No personal attacks, name-calling, or bad-faith trolling.
• No threats, intimidation, or encouragement of violence toward me or anyone else.
• No misinformation presented as fact after it has been corrected.What will happen if these boundaries are crossed?
• Comments that violate these standards may be removed.
• Accounts engaging in threats, harassment, or hate speech will be restricted from further participation.
• Credible threats or violent language will be documented and reported.This page exists to share information, discuss policy, and engage with the community in good faith. If you’re here to ask questions, challenge ideas, or advocate for a different approach, you’re more than welcome. If you’re here to harass, intimidate, or spread hate, you won’t be.
Bottom line? BE GOOD NEIGHBORS. Let’s keep this space productive, informative, and safe for everyone!
The tension between Baldwin Day’s stated support for constitutional protections and her approach to moderating critics on social media is not hypothetical; it has already been tested in court in Alaska.
In a lawsuit involving former state Sen. Lora Reinbold, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews ruled in December 2022 that Reinbold’s Facebook page functioned as a limited public forum and that blocking users based on viewpoint was unconstitutional. While the judge allowed narrow, viewpoint-neutral moderation, he rejected the idea that an elected official could exclude critics simply for disagreeable speech.
A similar case involving Rep. Kevin McCabe produced the same core finding. In January 2024, Judge Matthews ruled that McCabe acted in an official capacity on his Facebook page and that it constituted a limited public forum. The remaining issue, whether the block itself amounted to viewpoint discrimination, has been stayed until August.
Those Alaska rulings track recent US Supreme Court guidance clarifying when a public official’s social media activity constitutes state action and when First Amendment protections apply.
Together, the cases sent a clear message: elected officials may enforce neutral rules against threats, obscenity, or true harassment, but they may not block constituents simply because the speech is critical, political, or unwelcome.
That legal backdrop leaves Baldwin Day facing a choice. Declaring that constitutional rights should never be partisan carries weight, but so does the obligation, under established case law, to tolerate sharp political criticism on official pages.
Whether calling an elected official a “liberal” constitutes unprotected name-calling or constitutionally protected political speech is not a new question in Alaska courts. It is one that has already been answered, repeatedly, in favor of the First Amendment.
16 thoughts on “Anchorage Assemblywoman Erin Baldwin Day’s mixed signals on free speech, blocking critics”
Calling a liberal a liberal is just as calling a conservative a conservative.
Erin is as much a liberal as I am a conservative
She represents what her district has come to so well that no one who doesn’t live there no longer visits that district
If her district wasn’t so liberal. Their district wouldn’t look like such a dump!
I have another probably offensive word to describe her-snowflake.
In a nutshell of her long winded posting
“ Be a perfect human being”
I hope she never has kids for the impossible standard of conduct she’d put on them
I’d hate to burst Erin Baldwin bubble perfect world but no one can live up to that especially if they lack knowledge of common courtesies to how you grew up. Then!
There are some people who grown up or experienced a life harder than your life, and they are just a tough cookie and rough around their edges.And you just have to get over yourself and how they come across toward you.
Erin means a safe space for her
She needs to toughen up to be a leader. People will complain at you whether or not the people are Correct or wrong. A leader’s position is to discern wisely whether or not what he is doing is correct or wrong and whether or not the people are correct. Where the conflict comes in is if the leader is wrong, doesn’t want to admit it, and the people are right. In Erin it’s not hard to see who is wrong. The proof is in the pudding just by looking at Anchorage and not going too far or of her district which looks like a dump! We know who and which party is leading incorrectly,
By Golly! I hope Erin has no kids. I hope all men stay away from her and women like her. That kind of woman will mess up and confuse any children living around her type. It’s bad enough there are confused and mixed up Alaskans raising kids today. I feel bad for kids with confused parents whether the parent is liberal or conservative. We don’t need one more mixed up woman like Erin raising kids.
I think Erin is the age that makes her too old to be having pregnancies, so good for her. Her having no kids was likely her best choice made.
Kevin McCabe needs to toughen up too and get more understanding.
People make all kinds of judgements because of we aren’t the ones behind closed doors.
The problem with who we been electing as Alaska’s leaders is the people we elect are people who aren’t understanding. They don’t know how to talk to people especially people who aren’t understanding, or they are confused, worried, or scared. Our leaders are uncomfortable around plains speaking Alaskans who talk without knowledge of decorum. Procedures, and professionalism standards.
If anyone is going to be a Leader, by their face recognizable. then they need to get over themselves and like people: All people! not just the people they are comfortable around because of common shared characteristics. That’s part of real and true service when you not only serve your friends (its easy to serve and respect people who respect you); but also that you Serve those you think don’t deserve it but you give them the same courtesies as your friends.
Erin and Kevin could learn from that once they stepped into a public arena, they not going to be able to control what is spoken at them and directed to them.
My bottom line to them is this Americans and Alaskans are frustrated and fearful. Scared about their futures. In that frustration they will speak anything that comes from their heart. Telling a frustrated and fearful Alaskans now they can’t express themselves in the only way they know how of their frustration is as adding kerosene to the already raging fire 😡
Suzanne Downing reports on the critical issues facing Alaskans.
Evan once again kvetches from tgevsidelines
Try sending Baldwin-Day an email sometime regarding a proposal before the Assembly. The veiled insults with which she peppers her responses are a thing to behold. Imagine if he had not merely called her a liberal, but a white liberal woman!
What do you expect from a new member under the tutelage of Chris Constant. Write him an email offering suggestions and see what you get back, if anything at all. He deems members of the public to be too stupid to understand ( a sentiment shared by our senior senator btw). Add to that her political hero being Senator Warnock of GA, she is I am sure eagerly implementing all of Mr. Constant’s advice/edicts.
She must have gotten offended at the term “Female”, maybe it identifies as a transitioning hippopotamus turbo freak?
Miss Hyphenated-Surname-Front-Hole-Bearer is not a “liberal” in any sense of the word, she is a radical leftist extremist and a marxist totalitarian..
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There, is that better, snowflake Erin?
Sadly, this episode fits a template for many on the Left. I saw a study that examined the diversity of thought on political issues. Unsurprisingly, most on the Left held near identical views on major issues while conservatives were much more scattered. Thus, the Left has its’ own little world and consideration of points of view outside of that world is difficult. I expect this is what the Left means when they talk about “our democracy”. Free speech is speech for them but not for others. Ms. Baldwin Day may want to spend some time working on her self-awareness and humility.
Someone lose a hyphen?
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Anchorage’s very own AOC …needs 3 names to be Somebody?
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Need that many names, you must be Important, a legend in your own mind, if no one else’s.
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Suppose its adoring public should be grateful this hyphenated (or not) hood ornament telegraphed its propensity to petulance in advance, no?
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Wouldn’t be surprised, or upset, to see EBD (sounds almost like a mental disorder of some kind, doesn’t it?) goaded into a credibility-killing public meltdowns.
Liberal women: hyphenated names and, quite often unnaturally colored hair, multiple piercings and big glasses.
Oh… and cat or dog momma.
EB-D is an extension of the recently departed Meg Zalatel. She continues Meg’s homeless agenda and, since 2023, has been involved in dissolving the Single Family Home zoning on most residential properties in Anchorage, Just search for her and add “Alternate Dwelling Unit” and you’ll see her, Daniel Volland and Meg Z all over it. Her defending the Constitution while expecting to be insulated against “name calling” is somewhat similar to Constant not tolerating anyone commenting publicly at an Assembly meeting and uttering a specific Assembly person’s name. I wonder if pointing is allowed. Her Rules of Engagement are nothing more than a list of subjective preferences and don’t belong in anything protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. If one further extends her declaration of being a “pastor,” during her campaign run she listed that she is (or was) a “pastor” at one of THE most LIBERAL Methodist churches in Anchorage. The liberal stink is all over her but she apparently refuses to own it.
Cry me a river EBD: 😢😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Meanwhile, I’ll just LMAO: 🥲🥲🥹😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣