DES MOINES, Iowa ( IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH ) - The State of Iowa is being sued by an attorney who claims she was fired from the Office of the State Public Defender for online comments made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder in September.

Maria Ruhtenberg, an attorney for the State Public Defender, is suing the State of Iowa and State Public Defender Jeff Wright in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, alleging violations of her First Amendment right to free speech.

According to the lawsuit, the state hired Ruhtenberg in October 2010 as a trial attorney for the Story County division of the Office of State Public Defender. In May 2013, Ruhtenberg became an assistant appellate defender based in Des Moines.

The lawsuit alleges that throughout her employment, Ruhtenberg’s

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