RAHWAY—Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin shepherded New Jersey’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act through the Legislature to shield citizens from retaliatory lawsuits. His law firm is now invoking that statute to defend Rahway officials accused of banning activists from a municipal Facebook page during the 2024 Democratic primary, raising questions about the law’s application when the defendants include the mayor’s campaign manager and the firm has billed the city $650,000 in legal fees.

Plaintiffs Alan Levy and Lisa Vandever-Levy allege that Thomas O’Reilly, Bill Tomkiewicz, and Joanna Papadakis removed them from “Rahway Community Voice,” a Facebook group with 1,400 members that the administrators describe as a “public square” for the city’s 30,000 residents. The removal occurred in June 2024, during the Democratic primary for City Council, after Levy posted criticisms of the ballot structure.

According to court documents, Levy compared the ballot layout to the “county line” system—a design recently invalidated by federal courts for giving preferential placement to party-backed candidates. She and Vandever-Levy had also supported an unsuccessful recall effort against Mayor Raymond Giacobbe Jr. Levy remained unable to post in the group until after the primary election concluded.

“This was pure political retaliation,” Levy said in a statement. “They used a private Facebook group to control public discourse during an election.”

Political and Financial Connections

O’Reilly, one of the defendants, served simultaneously as a Rahway library trustee and chair of the 2024 campaign committee for Giacobbe’s Democratic council candidates. Tomkiewicz sits on the city Zoning Board of Adjustment, while Papadakis is a former school board member.

Rainone Coughlin Minchello, the firm co-founded by Assembly Speaker Coughlin, represents all three defendants. The firm has earned more than $650,000 from Rahway since 2017 and donated $15,600 to the Rahway Democratic Organization in 2024, according to Election Law Enforcement Commission disclosures. David Minchello, a named partner, regularly sits beside Council President Jeffrey Brooks during public meetings.

Rainone Coughlin Minchello currently represents two other municipalities defending restrictions on public expression. In Edison, the firm is defending officials who banned props—including American flags—at public meetings. In Plainfield, the firm represents the city in litigation over council rules that prohibited singing, chanting, and non-verbal speech during public comment periods.

All three cases involve restrictions on political speech in public forums, with the firm consistently defending municipal governments against First Amendment challenges.

Legal Proceedings and Oversight

The defendants filed a counterclaim, alleging “malicious abuse of process” and arguing the activists are using the courts to settle political vendettas. They moved to dismiss the underlying suit under the UPEPA, the anti-SLAPP statute Coughlin helped enact in 2023.

The law allows defendants to file motions to dismiss frivolous litigation within 60 days of service, with courts required to grant discovery stays during consideration. If the motion succeeds, defendants may recover attorneys’ fees from the plaintiffs.

Superior Court Judge Robert Mega denied the plaintiffs’ motion to disqualify Coughlin’s firm and refused to dismiss the counterclaim, ruling the retaliation claim could proceed. Mega retired from the bench in March 2026 and joined Wilentz Goldman Spitz, a private firm where former judges frequently handle municipal defense work.

The ACLU of New Jersey received permission to file an amicus brief supporting the activists on March 19, arguing that UPEPA was designed to protect government critics, not government officials who restrict speech. Jeanne LoCicero, the group’s legal director, noted in a statement that the case presents a “bizarre” power dynamic given the Speaker’s legislative role and the firm’s municipal contracts.

Coughlin chairs the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which oversees municipal court operations and legal ethics legislation. He has not recused himself from matters involving his firm’s municipal clients, and no legislative inquiry or ethics complaint has been filed regarding the contracting relationship between Rainone Coughlin Minchello and Rahway, despite the pending litigation involving protected political activity.

The UPEPA motion remains pending in Rahway Municipal Court. If granted, the motion would not only dismiss the activists’ suit but potentially require Levy and Vandever-Levy to pay the firm’s legal fees for having challenged the speech restrictions during an election. If denied, the case proceeds to discovery with the activists facing potential damages from the counterclaim.

Sources

• Politico New Jersey, “ACLU gets to weigh in on Rahway free speech case,” (March 19, 2026)

• Staff, “Rahway activists sue Facebook group administrators over alleged free speech violations,” MyCentralJersey (March 18, 2026)

• New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, Rainone Coughlin Minchello 2024 Annual Report (2024)

• Trellis Law, Levy v. O’Reilly et al., Case No. UNNC000088-24 (filed Sept. 30, 2024)

• New Jersey Legislature, Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-49 et seq. (enacted Sept. 7, 2023)

• Ballotpedia, Robert J. Mega (retrieved March 20, 2026)