The nation’s highest court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Texas citizen journalist who challenged her arrest after publishing information she received from law enforcement sources.
The justices refused to consider Priscilla Villarreal’s case seeking to overturn a lower court decision that shielded police officers and prosecutors from her lawsuit through qualified immunity protections. By declining to hear the appeal, the court allowed the previous ruling to stand.
Only Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagreed with the decision to reject the case.
Villarreal had received backing from major media organizations and advocates for free speech rights.
The legal principle of qualified immunity can protect government workers from being held liable in civil lawsuits concerning their official duties. Villarreal wanted the Supreme Court to rule that this protection shouldn’t apply when officials use state laws in ways that clearly breach First Amendment rights, which she claimed happened during her arrest.
Operating as one of Laredo’s most followed news sources, Villarreal has built an audience of more than 200,000 followers on her Facebook page where she regularly covers criminal cases, local happenings and municipal affairs.
Authorities filed two felony charges against her for improper use of information after she posted the names of people who died in a suicide and vehicle accident on Facebook in 2017, details she confirmed through conversations with a Laredo police officer.
The Texas law used to charge her criminalizes requesting non-public information from government workers with the goal of gaining an advantage. Officials claimed she sought the information to grow her Facebook following.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled 10-5 last year that the officers and prosecutors deserved qualified immunity protection and that police weren’t expected to determine if the Texas statute was constitutional before making the arrest.
In the court’s opinion, Judge Edith Jones stated it was wrong to “portray her as a martyr for the sake of journalism,” noting that Villarreal had circumvented Texas law “to capitalize on others’ tragedies to propel her reputation and career.”
Attorneys from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression representing Villarreal argued to the Supreme Court that the 5th Circuit’s decision “doubled down on granting officials free rein to turn routine news reporting into a felony.”
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press supported her appeal. Leading news organizations including ABC, the New York Times and the Washington Post also encouraged the Supreme Court to review Villarreal’s case.
