The majority held that police officers and officials prosecuted through Villarreal in Laredo and Webb County were entitled to legal immunity.
FEDERAL COURT HEARS TEXAS CITIZEN JOURNALIST’S CASE
“Villarreal and others portray her as a martyr for the sake of journalism. That is inappropriate,” Judge Edith Jones wrote for the majority. “She could have followed Texas law, or challenged that law in court, before reporting nonpublic information from the backchannel source.”
Priscilla Villarreal stands outside the construction of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He met in the U. S. in New Orleans, Jan. 25, 2023, with his attorney, J. T. Morris, after the court heard arguments in Villarreal’s lawsuit opposed to Texas authorities. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill, File)
The ruling included lengthy opinions covering more than 50 pages from three of the seven dissenting judges.
The law, according to court records, defines “misuse of official data” as the use of data that “has not been made public . . . with the intention of gaining merit or with the intention of harming or defrauding any other user. “that Villarreal could profit from the use of this information – the identity of a user who committed suicide and a circle of family members involved in a turn of fate – as noted on his Facebook page, Lagordiloca News LaredoTx.
SUPREME COURT OFFERS IN CASE OF SPRAY WIRE AT TEXAS BORDER; BORDER PATROL UNION EXPLAINS DECISION
“If the First Amendment means anything, surely it means that citizens have the right to question or criticize public officials without fear of imprisonment,” Judge James Ho, nominated to the court by former President Donald Trump, said in one dissent. Other dissenters included three more nominees of Republican presidents, and three nominated by Democrats.
Villarreal and an attorney representing her in an email that they would take the case to the Supreme Court.
“I’m disappointed,” Villarreal said, “but I’m going to continue fighting for my rights and the rights of all Americans. “