High Court Turns Down Texas Online Journalist’s Wrongful Arrest Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a Texas online journalist who claimed she was illegally arrested for requesting police information. Priscilla Villarreal, who goes by La Gordiloca online, was taken into custody in 2017 for obtaining details about a suicide and car crash to post on Facebook.

WASHINGTON — The nation’s highest court declined Monday to consider the case of a Texas-based digital journalist who maintained her detention was unlawful, disappointing media groups and First Amendment advocates who had been watching the proceedings closely.

The court allowed a split federal appellate decision to remain unchanged, which determined that Priscilla Villarreal — who operates under the online handle La Gordiloca — lacked grounds to file suit against law enforcement and government officials following her detention for requesting and publishing confidential police details.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated: “It should be obvious that this arrest violated the First Amendment.”

The Supreme Court had previously instructed the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider Villareal’s matter following the high court’s decision in a separate Texas case. Last June, the justices allowed a former municipal official to continue her legal challenge alleging she was also improperly detained.

That separate matter involved Sylvia Gonzalez, who previously served on the city council in Castle Hills, a community near San Antonio. Gonzalez claimed her arrest was retaliatory and connected to a conflict with a political opponent.

However, the 5th Circuit maintained its original position, and this time the Supreme Court chose not to step in without providing reasoning. Villareal’s legal team argued in their high court petition: “The Fifth Circuit has doubled down on granting officials free rein to turn routine news reporting into a felony.”

A state court judge had earlier thrown out the criminal charges against Villareal, determining that the statute under which she was arrested in 2017 violated constitutional principles. She subsequently attempted to pursue monetary damages against the officials involved. The complete 5th Circuit panel voted 9-7 that the Laredo and Webb County officials Villareal targeted in her lawsuit deserved legal protection from such claims.

Villareal had requested and received from a law enforcement officer the names of an individual who died by suicide and a family involved in a vehicle collision, then shared this information through her Facebook page. According to the arrest documentation, authorities alleged she pursued this information to increase her social media following.