Texas Sheriff Cannot Determine Who Is and Who Is Not Media

There is no such thing as state-approved media, in other words. I'm sure the Sheriff is distraught to find that there are limits to his power in his own county. In Win for Free Speech, Court Rules in Favor of Texas Citizen Journalist - Institute for Justice

Yesterday, a Texas court found that a Fort Bend citizen journalist’s First Amendment rights were violated by the county’s Sheriff. The United States District Court, Southern District of Texas ruling finds that Sheriff Eric Fagan infringed Justin Pulliam’s rights by excluding him from a press conference in a public park that he was trying to record for his YouTube channel. The court ruled not only that Fort Bend County violated Justin’s free-speech rights, but that his rights were so clearly established that Sheriff Fagan has no qualified immunity, a dubious doctrine the Supreme Court developed to shield officials from accountability for their constitutional violations.

The no-qualified-immunity part of the ruling is interesting. That means Mr. Pullman can sue for damages, and, I believe, even punitive damages. Fort Bend County better break out the checkbook.

Fort Bend County, Texas is suburban Houston.

There is another matter, in which Justin Pullman was arrested and charged with "interfering with police" for having the nerve to video police doing their job. It sounds more like he was arrested because he is frequently critical of police and local politicians. Or maybe just police. Click thru for those details.

“Today’s victory establishes that the government cannot give favorable access to the traditional media by discriminating against social-media journalists,” said IJ Attorney Christie Herbert. “To the First Amendment, all speakers are equal, a bedrock principle necessary for twenty-first-century journalism.”

Officials in general, and police in particular, don't like that. Because they like control. They like to give a story that will get no push-back.

The legacy media also don't like that, because they're special. They're "Professional Journalists," or something.