Independent journalists increasingly gather newsworthy information and publish it on social media, often without the involvement of traditional news media. They make important contributions to public discourse and are often the first to report newsworthy events. Courts must scrupulously safeguard their First Amendment rights to gather and publish the news. (Sometimes they are called “citizen journalists,” but of course, many independent journalists are non-citizens.)
EFF this week filed an amicus brief arguing that when police officers wrongly arrest an independent journalist in violation of the First Amendment, courts must order the officers to pay damages. The brief was written by Covington, and our co-amici are the National Press Photographers Association and the Pelican Institute. The brief explains that damages are necessary both to compensate the independent journalist for their injury, and to deter these officers and others from similar misconduct in the future. The case, Villarreal v. City of Laredo, is before the federal appeals court for the Fifth Circuit. A panel of judges issued a great decision in favor of the journalist earlier this year, but the entire court has agreed to rehear the case.
The issue on appeal is whether a dangerous legal doctrine called “qualified immunity” should protect the officers from paying damages. Fortunately, Congress empowered people to sue state and local officials who violate their constitutional rights. This was during Reconstruction after the Civil War, in direct response to state-sanctioned violence against Black
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