In its brief order, the Supreme Court wiped away the lower court decision that protected the police officers involved in her arrest and ordered additional proceedings.
Villarreal has been described as the "most influential journalist" in Laredo, and publishes information about local crime, traffic and other news to her Facebook page, "Lagordiloca News." Her reporting sometimes rankles local government officials, including the Laredo Police Department.
In 2017, their frustrations boiled over. Villarreal had published two news reports based on tips from local citizens, one that named a U.S. Border Patrol agent who died by suicide and a second relaying information about a fatal traffic crash and Houston family that was hurt in the accident. For both, she reached out to a Laredo police officer who confirmed the information before the stories were published to her Facebook page.
Months later, Villarreal was arrested for allegedly violating a state law that makes it a felony for a person to solicit or receive information from a government official that has not yet been made public if it's with the intent to obtain a benefit.
In the 23 years that it's been on the books, the statute has never been enforced, according to her lawyers.
Villarreal turned herself in, and the criminal charges were dismissed after a local judge ruled the law was unconstitutionally vague. She then sued the police and prosecutors behind her arrest, arguing her First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights were violated.
The officials sought to toss out the case, claiming they had qualified immunity.
Villarreal's lawyers wrote in a filing to the Supreme Court, that this "leaves no doubt that arresting Villarreal for asking the government for information and publishing the response violated the First Amendment — and every reasonable official would have known that."
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