RIVERVIEW, Mo. – A dispute over an “online joke” has escalated into a free speech controversy involving an Illinois man and the mayor of Riverview, Missouri. The City of Riverview recently issued a subpoena over the joke, and now the man behind it is fighting back.

On Tuesday, the Institute for Justice, a national civil liberties law firm, sent a letter to Riverview city officials, calling on them to retract a subpoena issued against James Carroll.

Carroll, a current resident of Collinsville, Illinois, formerly lived near Riverview in north St. Louis County and continues to follow updates on the community.

In April, according to the Institute for Justice, Carroll posted a joke on neighborhood-based website Nextdoor that poked fun at Mayor Michael Cornell in response to recent news articles. While the law firm did not disclose the nature or exact content of the joke, it says a subpoena arrived just days later.

The subpoena orders Carroll to appear at a Riverview meeting and testify on several allegations, including allegations that he cyberbullied Riverview residents, threatened a city official, and defamed someone’s character.

The Institute for Justice claims this move violates Carroll’s First Amendment Rights, contending that joking about officials is protected by free speech and that the subpoena amounts to unconstitutional retaliation.

“The First Amendment is a bulwark against thin-skinned government officials abusing their authority to punish their critics,” said Institute for Justice attorney Ben Field via a news release. “You can understand why an elected official would be tempted to retaliate against somebody making a joke at their expense, which is why the Constitution stands in their way.”

Carroll formally filed a lawsuit on April 17, 2025, to challenge the city’s subpoena. A hearing to decide the validity of the subpoena is scheduled for Wednesday.

The City of Riverview is located in the northeast corner of St. Louis County near the Mississippi River with a population of around 2,300 people. Cornell has served as the City’s mayor since 2023.

FOX 2 has reached out to the City of Riverview for comment, but our request for comment has not been returned as of this story’s publication.