WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal of Texas online journalist Priscilla Villarreal, known as La Gordiloca, leaving in place a divided ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that barred her from suing police officers and other officials over her 2017 arrest.
Villarreal had been arrested after obtaining nonpublic information from police — including the identities of a suicide victim and a family involved in a car accident — which she then posted on Facebook. The arrest affidavit claimed she sought the information to gain followers on social media. A state judge had previously dismissed the criminal case, finding the law used to arrest her unconstitutional, and Villarreal later attempted to sue for damages.
The appeals court, in a 9-7 decision, ruled that the officials in Laredo and Webb County were entitled to legal immunity, a decision now left intact by the Supreme Court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, stating, “It should be obvious that this arrest violated the First Amendment.”
Villarreal’s lawyers criticized the ruling, saying, “The Fifth Circuit has doubled down on granting officials free rein to turn routine news reporting into a felony.” The case had drawn national attention from media organizations and free speech advocates.
The Supreme Court had previously instructed the 5th Circuit to review Villarreal’s case in light of another Texas case involving former city council member Sylvia Gonzalez, who argued she was wrongfully arrested in retaliation during a political dispute. The 5th Circuit reaffirmed its earlier ruling, and the high court opted not to intervene further.