The U.S. Supreme Court has resurrected a fight against a Texas police department that jailed a journalist for asking questions.
According to a report from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which is representing journalist Priscilla Villarreal, the high court ordered the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to deal again with the case – taking into consideration the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Gonzalez v. Trevino.
That decision authorized a lawsuit by Sylvia Gonzalez, a former councilwomen in Castle Hills, Texas, a critic of the city manager, who was arrested for misplacing a petition to oust that manager.
She was convicted, but the high court said that the lower court’s ruling was too rigid and the case must be reviewed again, considering that, court submissions argued, “when an arrest is a premeditated attempt to punish someone for speech protected by the First Amendment, then the arrest is clearly an unconstitutional ‘retaliation.'”
The new ruling involves Villarreal, who left local officials enraged because of her reporting.
“The district attorney even took her behind closed doors to chastise her for her reporting,” FIRE confirmed.
Described by The New York Times as ‘arguably the most influential journalist in Laredo,'” she covers crime, traffic and other topics for 200,000 Facebook followers.
“Like all good journalists, she’s not shy about criticizing government officials. That’s why she’s been repeatedly targeted by them,” FIRE explained.
“In 2017, police dusted off a decades-old statute local officials had never used before to criminalize Priscilla’s journalism. The alleged crime? She asked a Laredo police officer to confirm facts about a high-profile suicide and a fatal car accident, facts the officer freely shared and Villarreal published to her hundreds of thousands of readers,” the report revealed.
She sued the police and prosecutors after her arrested for violations of the First and Fourth Amendments.
A 5th Circuit panel ruled in her favor but then was reversed by the full court.
The organization reported, “Villarreal’s case has deep implications for free speech, a free press, and government accountability. Americans shouldn’t be jailed for asking public officials a question, and government officials shouldn’t get a free pass when they violate our fundamental rights.”
“It has been a challenging seven years since Laredo officials attempted to silence me, and this marks a significant step toward rectifying the wrongs I have faced,” she said.
The Supreme Court’s decision vacated the 5th Circuit’s ruling against her and sent the case back for the lower court to reconsider her claims in light of the Gonzalez ruling.
“We’re thrilled over today’s decision, and look forward to helping Priscilla continue her fight,” said FIRE attorney JT Morris. “This case is vital for free speech, a free press, and ensuring officials are accountable when they trample the First Amendment.”
The never-before-used law made it a crime to ask for “non-public” information “if the person asking could benefit from that.
Officials claimed she benefited from reporting on a high-profile suicide and a fatal car accident because she would “gain popularity on Facebook.”
