Appeals court to decide if 1st Amendment should have protected Laredo's "big crazy lady" from arrest

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Priscilla Villarreal was arrested over her Facebook postings. In a rare proceeding, the entire 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will weigh whether she can sue, a case that could have major ramifications for citizen journalists like her -- and professional ones.

BY ROXANNA ASGARIAN
JAN. 6, 2023



It is unusual for all 16 judges of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to convene and hear a case. This month, they will do so to consider a lawsuit involving a foul-mouthed Latina firebrand known as La Gordiloca, an unlikely citizen journalist who has upended politics as usual in her border town of Laredo.

Her case pits the First Amendment against qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that shields public officials from being sued individually unless they’ve violated a “clearly established” constitutional right. Although it involves a freelance, untrained citizen journalist, the case has widespread implications for journalism in Texas and beyond. A similar case is already working its way up through the courts in Fort Bend County.

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Police started harassing her, she says, including in a filmed incident in which a police officer prevented her from being near a crash site where she was working her day job with the cleanup crew. Six months after her initial reports naming the people involved in the two incidents, Laredo police arrested Villarreal for twice breaking a little-known state law — one under which the Webb County district attorney had never before prosecuted anyone — involving soliciting or receiving information from a public servant that “has not been made public” with an intent to obtain a benefit.

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Villarreal’s charges were dismissed after a judge found them “unconstitutionally vague.” In 2019, she brought a lawsuit against the Laredo Police Department, along with the city of Laredo, Webb County, the local district attorney and others who she said violated her First Amendment rights by arresting her for doing journalism. A district judge threw out the case, ruling that the officials were protected by qualified immunity because they were performing official duties.

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Full article

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This is a really interesting case -- especially since a very conservative Trump-appointed judge on the appeals court sided with Villareal, which is probably why the entire court is getting involved -- some judges didn't like it. This is definitely worth a read and the case is worth following.