In any thriving democracy, the voices of the people should not only be heard—they should be respected. The residents who take the time to speak at public meetings are not nuisances or enemies of the state. They are champions of truth, guardians of transparency, and, more often than not, the last line of defense between good governance and unchecked authority.

Yet in Reno, a troubling pattern has emerged: those who dare to speak truth to power are being publicly shamed by the very officials they elected.