Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Indy Politics publisher Abdul-Hakim Shabazz over access to his office.
Indiana's Public Access Counselor says Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita's Office must turn over documents requested by Indy Politics publisher Abdul-Hakim Shabazz regarding Shabazz being banned from Rokita's news conferences.
This morning I filed a lawsuit against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita for violating my first amendment rights as a journalist for barring me from his press conferences.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is denying an open records request filed by Indy Politics publisher Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, concerning documents as to why Shabazz was barred from Rokita's news oncferneces.
Rokita says Shabazz was denied the records because he has filed suit against the Office and he can get those through discovery.
Note, Shabazz filed his records request back in late October, months before litigation was filed.
Indiana's Public Access Counselor says Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita's Office must turn over documents requested by Indy Politics publisher Abdul-Hakim Shabazz regarding Shabazz being banned from Rokita's news conferences.
This morning I filed a lawsuit against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita for violating my first amendment rights as a journalist for barring me from his press conferences.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is denying an open records request filed by Indy Politics publisher Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, concerning documents as to why Shabazz was barred from Rokita's news oncferneces.
Rokita says Shabazz was denied the records because he has filed suit against the Office and he can get those through discovery.
Note, Shabazz filed his records request back in late October, months before litigation was filed.
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb files an appeal in a case where a Marion County Judge ruled state lawmakers do have the ability to call themselves into special session.
See if you can see the NEXUS/CONNECTION/RELATIONSHIP with the Anna Louise Inn Scandal/Lawsuit and Ladye Margaret Townsend's BANKRUPTCY Action. If NOT, we are going to show the PUBLIC/WORLD the PATTERN-OF-CRIMINAL practices that have United States of America's President Barack Obama's and his Legal Counsel Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz' PARTICIPATION all OVER IT!
A judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for the past 11 years, Sonia Sotomayor is now high on lists that lawyers and politicians have assembled of possible replacements for Justice David H. Souter of the Supreme Court. She has a reputation as a sharp, outspoken and fearless jurist, and many of her opinions have demonstrated a willingness to take the government to task whenever she believes the circumstances warrant it.
A judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for the past 11 years, Sonia Sotomayor is now high on lists that lawyers and politicians have assembled of possible replacements for Justice David H. Souter of the Supreme Court. She has a reputation as a sharp, outspoken and fearless jurist, and many of her opinions have demonstrated a willingness to take the government to task whenever she believes the circumstances warrant it.
Former employee fires back after being sued by Community Health AllianceThis Is Reno
James Fleming, who is being sued by his former employer, Community Health Alliance, fired back at the health nonprofit in court filings last week.
He denies wrongdoing and accuses CHA of interfering with the federal investigation into Fleming’s allegations that CHA committed fraud.
Fleming responded to the complaint Feb. 4 after CHA applied for a temporary protective order seeking to prevent Fleming from talking about CHA negatively.
CHA also filed an amended complaint that removed most mentions of Reno City Council member, also CHA’s CEO, Oscar Delgado.
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb files an appeal in a case where a Marion County Judge ruled state lawmakers do have the ability to call themselves into special session.
See if you can see the NEXUS/CONNECTION/RELATIONSHIP with the Anna Louise Inn Scandal/Lawsuit and Ladye Margaret Townsend's BANKRUPTCY Action. If NOT, we are going to show the PUBLIC/WORLD the PATTERN-OF-CRIMINAL practices that have United States of America's President Barack Obama's and his Legal Counsel Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz' PARTICIPATION all OVER IT!
A judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for the past 11 years, Sonia Sotomayor is now high on lists that lawyers and politicians have assembled of possible replacements for Justice David H. Souter of the Supreme Court. She has a reputation as a sharp, outspoken and fearless jurist, and many of her opinions have demonstrated a willingness to take the government to task whenever she believes the circumstances warrant it.
A judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for the past 11 years, Sonia Sotomayor is now high on lists that lawyers and politicians have assembled of possible replacements for Justice David H. Souter of the Supreme Court. She has a reputation as a sharp, outspoken and fearless jurist, and many of her opinions have demonstrated a willingness to take the government to task whenever she believes the circumstances warrant it.
Former employee fires back after being sued by Community Health AllianceThis Is Reno
James Fleming, who is being sued by his former employer, Community Health Alliance, fired back at the health nonprofit in court filings last week.
He denies wrongdoing and accuses CHA of interfering with the federal investigation into Fleming’s allegations that CHA committed fraud.
Fleming responded to the complaint Feb. 4 after CHA applied for a temporary protective order seeking to prevent Fleming from talking about CHA negatively.
CHA also filed an amended complaint that removed most mentions of Reno City Council member, also CHA’s CEO, Oscar Delgado.
York County, Virginia General District Court Filing Traffic CourtChuck Thompson
http://www.gloucestercounty-va.com Posted for a story posted on the linked website dated April 22nd, 2015. Shows how the court ignored the rules of the court and railroaded a person who was fraudulently charged in our opinion.
BUSW 390Please complete the following table and submTawnaDelatorrejs
BUSW 390
Please complete the following table and submit.
Legal Term Definition
Relevant Case Issues
What Elements Apply
· Standing (Right) to Sue
Allows for a party to bring suit to a court. Within the federal court any legal action cannot be brought to the court on the grounds of an individual or group being dissatisfied. The federal court only possess the authority to resolve authentic disputes according to Article III of the Constitution.
Secondary Source: Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Standing. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/standing.
Primary Source: Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife (90-1424), 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War, (72-1188), 418 U.S. 208 (1974),
“Standing alone, would adversely affect only the generalized interest of all citizens in constitutional governance . . . We reaffirm Levitt in holding that standing to sue may not be predicated upon an interest of this kind…)
Member of the United States Armed Forces Reservist committee opposing their involvement in the Vietnam War pursed a class action against the United States Secretary of Defense. Respondents utilized the fact that they were United States citizen and taxpayers to pursue this class action however the respondents lacked standing to sue as taxpayers and citizens.
Legal Information Institute. (1992, June 12). Lujan v. defenders of wildlife, 504 U.S. 555 (1992). Legal Information Institute. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/90-1424.ZO.html.
1.The plaintiff must has experienced an injury that is considered of a legally protected interest being (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent
2. There must be a causal connection between the injury and the conduct brought before the court
3.It must be likely, rather than speculative, that a favorable decision by the court will redress the injury
Secondary Source: Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Standing. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/standing.
Relation to Case: Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War, (72-1188), 418 U.S. 208 (1974),
Respondents must be able to proof that they will suffer an injury. This claim was found to lack standing due to the fact that the respondents could only tie in abstract injuries rather than concrete injuries.
Primary Source: Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife (90-1424), 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
· Diversity of Citizenship
Is when all the parties on one side of a controversy contains a different citizenship then those of the other party. This is a requirement of diversity of jurisdiction because it promotes an unbiased court for the defendants.
Primary Source: Diversity of Citizenship Clause (U.S Const. Art. III § 2, cl. 1)
Secondary Source: Legal Information Institute. (2020, July). Diversity of citizenship. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/diversity_of_citizenship. ...
UFLTV’s ARGUMENTS CHALLENGING THE FACTUAL AND LEGAL ASSERTIONS OF THE COURT’S...Eric Johnson
UFLTV’s ARGUMENTS CHALLENGING THE FACTUAL AND LEGAL ASSERTIONS OF THE COURT’S RULING OF APRIL 6, 2016. Utah divorce, Utah family law, Utah Family Law TV, Utah County, district court, divorce, Wolferts v. Wolferts, American Fork, Brian Wolferts, Sonja Wolferts,
Thomas Woznicki vs. Jeff Moberg (Decision, Wisconsin Court of Appeals)SteveJohnson125
This Decision, filed with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on October 4, 2016, concludes as follows: “We conclude that Woznicki has failed to demonstrate that a public interest in nondisclosure of his District personnel file outweighs the strong and presumptive public interest in access to, and disclosure of, his personnel file under Wisconsin’s open records law. We therefore affirm the order denying Woznicki’s request for an injunction.
By the Court.—Order affirmed.”
Darren Chaker http://darrenchaker,us/ notes, “[T]he First Amendment does not „belong‟ to any definable category of persons or entities: It belongs to all who exercise its freedoms.” First Nat. Bank. of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 802 (1978) (Burger, C.J., concurring). This federal court ruling found a Florida law preventing disclosure of police home address information to be unconstitutional for several articulated reasons based on the First Amendment. The court found the right to publish police home addresses did not fall within any category of speech the First Amendment allowed to exempt from protection.
Brayshaw v. City Of Tallahassee, 2010 - Landmark Case Striking Down The 1972...Terry81
The Landmark Case Of Brayshaw V. City Of Tallahassee, 2010. This federal case made Rob Brayshaw an American Civil Rights Hero Against Dumb and Dirty Cops Annette Garrett and Mike Dilmore who were very crooked and dishonest. The Florida Statute from 1972 known as "The Dildo Law" or "Dilmore's Law" was struck down as Unconstitutional on it's face and illegally applied by false police reports as there was no threat. Tallahassee cops attempted to illegally silence and use illegal censorships for exposing them as crooked police officers.
The Landmark Federal Case Of Brayshaw V. City Of Tallahassee, 2010. This is the federal court order protecting the First Amendment Rights Of Our U.S. Constitution Against Dumb and Dirty Police Officers, Malicious Prosecutors and Corrupt Judges. The 1972 Florida Statute Was Struck Down as Unconstitutional on its face and as illegally applied by dirty cops of Annette Garrett and Mike Dilmore with their falsely written police reports.
Another Day, Another Default Judgment Against Gabe WhitleyAbdul-Hakim Shabazz
Another default judgment has been entered against 7th Congressional District candidate Gabe Whitley. I lose count of how many default judgments have been entered against him.
Court Denies Rust Request for an Injunction to stay on the ballotAbdul-Hakim Shabazz
A Marion County Judge has denied a request by John Rust to get back on the ballot. Rust says he will appeal his decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gabe Whitley Election Complaint Against Abdul-Hakim ShabazzAbdul-Hakim Shabazz
7th DIstrict Republican Congressional Candidate Gabriel Whitley has filed a complaint with the Marion County Election Board against Abdul-Hakim Shabazz. You have to read it to believe it. And check the dates where the alleged activity took place.
Happy Valentine's Day from all of us here at Indy Politics!
We love all of our readers. In fact, we love you guys so much that we have a gift for you: a complimentary Cheat Sheet.
Center Township Constable Denise Paul Hatch has been arrested.
She was arrested February 8.
Hatch has been charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor. The felonies are official misconduct and attempting assisting a criminal. She was also charged with attempting resisting law enforcement.
7th CD Candidate Makes Sexist Remark Regarding Trump Civil TrialAbdul-Hakim Shabazz
Republican Congressional candidate Gabriel Whitley has posted a sexist remark in the Donald Trump defamation case. In it, he insinuates, the Trump lost his case because he had a female attorney.
Common Cause of Indiana has field an amicus brief before the Indiana Supreme Court in the matter involving a Marion County judge's ruling that requiring an individual to vote in two consecutive primaries or get their county chairman's permission to be on the ballot was unconstitutional.
role of women and girls in various terror groupssadiakorobi2
Women have three distinct types of involvement: direct involvement in terrorist acts; enabling of others to commit such acts; and facilitating the disengagement of others from violent or extremist groups.
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
In a May 9, 2024 paper, Juri Opitz from the University of Zurich, along with Shira Wein and Nathan Schneider form Georgetown University, discussed the importance of linguistic expertise in natural language processing (NLP) in an era dominated by large language models (LLMs).
The authors explained that while machine translation (MT) previously relied heavily on linguists, the landscape has shifted. “Linguistics is no longer front and center in the way we build NLP systems,” they said. With the emergence of LLMs, which can generate fluent text without the need for specialized modules to handle grammar or semantic coherence, the need for linguistic expertise in NLP is being questioned.
हम आग्रह करते हैं कि जो भी सत्ता में आए, वह संविधान का पालन करे, उसकी रक्षा करे और उसे बनाए रखे।" प्रस्ताव में कुल तीन प्रमुख हस्तक्षेप और उनके तंत्र भी प्रस्तुत किए गए। पहला हस्तक्षेप स्वतंत्र मीडिया को प्रोत्साहित करके, वास्तविकता पर आधारित काउंटर नैरेटिव का निर्माण करके और सत्तारूढ़ सरकार द्वारा नियोजित मनोवैज्ञानिक हेरफेर की रणनीति का मुकाबला करके लोगों द्वारा निर्धारित कथा को बनाए रखना और उस पर कार्यकरना था।
Rokita Files Motion to Dismiss Indy Politics Lawsuit
1. 1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
ABDUL-HAKIM SHABAZZ, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) No. 1:22-cv-268-JRS-MPB
)
TODD ROKITA, in his official capacity )
as Attorney General of the State of )
Indiana, )
)
Defendant. )
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO DISMISS
This Court should dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint because Plaintiff is not being
denied access to information open to the public, and there is no constitutional right
to interact with a government official at a press conference. Plaintiff complains that
he has not been permitted to receive the Attorney General’s message in person, as
opposed to via livestream. But the facts he pleads foreclose this case because they
negate any legitimate basis for prospective relief (the only relief he seeks) and
demonstrate no violation of the First Amendment. In short, Plaintiff pleads that all
along he has had access to the same message and information as everyone else,
which means that his claim can be understood as a demand for a right to hear a
public official’s message in person. The First Amendment protects no such right, so
his claim must be dismissed.
Case 1:22-cv-00268-JRS-MPB Document 12 Filed 03/02/22 Page 1 of 12 PageID #: 34
2. 2
Background
Under the facts alleged in the complaint, accepted as true for present
purposes, on October 14, 2021, the Attorney General held a limited in-person press
conference to announce a lawsuit that the Office of the Attorney General had filed
to challenge robocalls made to Indiana residences. ECF 1, Compl. ¶ 24. The press
conference was located in a conference room in the Office of the Attorney General at
the Statehouse. Compl. ¶ 27. The Office of the Attorney General required the media
to RSVP for its limited event. Compl. ¶ 25.
Plaintiff emailed the Office of the Attorney General indicating that he wished
to attend the press conference, but received a reply from a staff member indicating
that Plaintiff was “not credentialed for this event.” Compl. ¶ 26, 32–33. Plaintiff
nevertheless travelled to the Statehouse, but he was not permitted to attend the
press conference. Compl. ¶ 29–31.
Nearly four months later, on February 7, 2022, Plaintiff filed suit against the
Attorney General in his official capacity for injunctive and declaratory relief. ECF 1.
Plaintiff alleges that he has been “banned” from the Attorney General’s press
events. Compl. ¶ 42, 45–46. But he also alleges that he was invited to the press
conference “via live stream,” Compl. ¶ 33, but protests that watching the livestream
of the press conference “was not a viable option as it did not allow for questions or
the informal interactions that frequently occur with officials prior to or after formal
press conferences.” Compl. ¶ 34.
Case 1:22-cv-00268-JRS-MPB Document 12 Filed 03/02/22 Page 2 of 12 PageID #: 35
3. 3
Plaintiff asks this Court to declare that the Attorney General’s “ban” violates
his First Amendment rights, and enter a preliminary injunction “enjoining
defendant to allow plaintiff to attend and participate in press conferences and
similar events to which only credentialed press members are invited on an equal
footing with the other credentialed members of the press.” ECF 1 at 9.
Argument
The Court should dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for two reasons: First, his
factual allegations demonstrate no First Amendment violation. The First
Amendment does not grant Plaintiff a right to hear a government official deliver a
message in person, as opposed to through a livestream. And relatedly, there is no
right to interact with a government official at a press conference under the First
Amendment. In fact, no federal court has ever ordered a public official to take and
answer questions from a particular journalist or news commentator, or held that
the First Amendment is implicated by a public official not taking questions from a
particular journalist.
Second, Plaintiff’s complaint affirmatively demonstrates that he lacks
sufficient grounds to claim a likelihood of future injury that can justify federal
jurisdiction to entertain his sole claim for relief—an injunction. Plaintiff’s only basis
for asserting future injury is the Attorney General’s past conduct, not a concrete
threat of future action. But past conduct can justify a claim for injunctive relief only
where that past conduct was itself illegal. Here, that past conduct was not illegal
Case 1:22-cv-00268-JRS-MPB Document 12 Filed 03/02/22 Page 3 of 12 PageID #: 36
4. 4
(again because the First Amendment does not safeguard a right to in-person access
to public officials), so Plaintiff has no grounds for seeking forward-looking relief.
I. Plaintiff’s complaint fails to state a First Amendment violation.
To survive a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule 12(b)(6), “a complaint
must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief
that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). Plaintiff’s complaint should be
dismissed because his factual allegations actually refute a violation of the First
Amendment.
A. Plaintiff’s complaint shows he has access to the same information as
everyone else.
Plaintiff has access to the same real-time information as the public, and he is
not entitled to anything more under the First Amendment. Courts have long held
that “the First Amendment provides no special solicitude for members of the
press.” Dah’strom v. Sun-Times Media, LLC, 777 F.3d 937, 946 (7th Cir. 2015). The
“right to speak and publish does not carry with it the unrestrained right to gather
information.” Zemel v. Rusk, 381 U.S. 1, 17 (1965). And though the Supreme Court
has observed that “news gathering is not without its First Amendment protections,”
the Court “has repeatedly declined to confer on the media an expansive right to
gather information, concluding that such an approach would ‘present practical and
conceptual difficulties of a high order.’” Dah’strom, 777 F.3d at 946 (quoting
Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 703–04 (1972)). So while the press has the
freedom to communicate or publish information it receives, the press has no right of
Case 1:22-cv-00268-JRS-MPB Document 12 Filed 03/02/22 Page 4 of 12 PageID #: 37
5. 5
special access to government information “beyond that open to the public generally.”
Houchins v. KQED, Inc., 438 U.S. 1, 10 (1978) (plurality opinion).
Indeed, public officials are under no constitutional obligation to speak to the
press or public at all. Id. at 14. Outside the context of certain judicial proceedings,
there is no First Amendment right to gather “all sources of information within
government control.” Id. at 9–12; see Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448
U.S. 555 (1980) (recognizing some right of access in the realm of access to judicial
proceedings). The “Constitution itself is neither a Freedom of Information Act nor
an Official Secrets Act.” Houchins, 438 U.S. at 14; see also McBurney v. Young, 569
U.S. 221, 232 (2013) (“This Court has repeatedly made clear that there is no
constitutional right to obtain all the information provided by FOIA laws.”). It would
“require some straining of the text” to construe the First Amendment as “conferring
upon each citizen a presumptive right of access to any government-held information
which may interest him or her.” Capital Cities Media, Inc. v. Chester, 797 F.2d
1164, 1168 (3d Cir. 1986). At bottom, there is no recognized “right to know and
concomitant governmental duty to disclose” under the First Amendment. Id.
And even when the government elects to share information—like the
Attorney General did here—the press does not have an unrestrained right to gather
it in the “particular form” they choose. Putnam Pit Inc. v. City of Cookville, Tenn.,
221 F.3d 834, 841 (6th Cir. 2000). In Putnam Pit, for instance, the Sixth Circuit
held that government officials do not violate the First Amendment when they deny
a reporter information in an electronic format, where the reporter has access to the
Case 1:22-cv-00268-JRS-MPB Document 12 Filed 03/02/22 Page 5 of 12 PageID #: 38
6. 6
information in a hard copy. Id. at 840. Similarly, in United States v. McDougal, the
Eighth Circuit held that the right of access to public information does not extend to
a videotape of deposition testimony, when members of the public, including the
press, were given access to the information contained in the videotape in the form of
a transcript. 103 F.3d 651, 659 (8th Cir. 1996); cf. Nixon v. Warner
Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589 (1978) (holding that the press had no First
Amendment right to copies of White House tapes, when it unquestionably had
access to the contents of the tapes and when the public at large was not given
physical access to copies).
Like the challengers in Putnam Pit and McDougal, Plaintiff’s claim fails
because he has access to the same information the government shared with the
public, and the First Amendment does not require the information be produced to
Plaintiff in the form he chooses. Plaintiff does not allege that the Attorney General
is denying him the right to gather information, much less the right to publish or
speak about the information shared by the Attorney General. Plaintiff’s allegations
establish only that he was denied physical access to the Office of Attorney General.
But Plaintiff—like the public at large—had simultaneous access via livestream to
the same information the Attorney General shared in the press conference. There is
no meaningful distinction under the First Amendment between a person’s ability to
access the Attorney General’s announcement in person or to hear the same
government message via a livestream. And because the crux of the right to gather
Case 1:22-cv-00268-JRS-MPB Document 12 Filed 03/02/22 Page 6 of 12 PageID #: 39
7. 7
rests on the access to information, and not the particular format of the information,
Plaintiff fails to allege a violation of federal law.
Because Plaintiff undoubtedly had access to the information (in real-time),
this is not a case where a reporter or member of the public has been altogether
excluded from a press conference or otherwise denied access to information shared
by the government. The Seventh Circuit has rejected the notion that “reporters are
… cloaked with automatic ‘strict scrutiny protection’ merely because they are
members of the press” and has held that total exclusion from access to the
information shared in an invitation-only press conference (i.e., a nonpublic forum)
does not necessarily violate the First Amendment. John K. MacIver Inst. for Pub.
Policy v. Evers, 994 F.3d 602, 612 (7th Cir. 2021). And the Fourth Circuit has
similarly rejected the idea that members of the press have “a constitutional right of
equal or nondiscriminatory access” because it is incompatible with “the common and
widely accepted practice among politicians of granting an exclusive interview to a
particular reporter” and the Supreme Court’s refusal to confer on the press “special
First Amendment rights that exceed those of ordinary citizens.” Snyder v. Ringold,
133 F.3d 917 (4th Cir. 1998) (unpublished), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 814 (1998).
Because the Attorney General provided Plaintiff with the same information
available to those in attendance at the limited press conference through a
livestream—in real time—no denial of “equal access” occurred or is threatened in
the future. Plaintiff has the same access to the message conveyed and the
Case 1:22-cv-00268-JRS-MPB Document 12 Filed 03/02/22 Page 7 of 12 PageID #: 40
8. 8
information disclosed by the Attorney General at the press conference as all other
news media and members of the general public.
B. There is no First Amendment right to interact with a government
official at a press conference.
Plaintiff’s claim thus boils down to a complaint that he did not and will not
have an opportunity to ask questions and informally interact with the Attorney
General at an in-person press conference. The claim to a “right of interaction,”
however, has no constitutional footing.
Neither the press nor members of the general public have a constitutional
right to interact with a government official at a press conference. The Supreme
Court has never recognized a constitutional obligation for a government official to
disclose government-held information, to respond to a particular reporter in a press
conference, or to otherwise interact with the media. To the contrary, the Supreme
Court has broadly rejected the idea that a government official has a constitutional
obligation to divulge any information to the press, which would undoubtedly
encompass the ability to refuse to answer a targeted question by the media without
violating the First Amendment. Houchins, 438 U.S. at 11 (the right to gather news
from any source by means within the law “affords no basis for the claim that the
First Amendment compels others—private persons or governments—to supply
information”); see also McBurney, 569 U.S. at 232.
The Supreme Court has also rejected the notion that members of the public
have a right to force officers of the State acting in an official policymaking capacity
to listen to their views, holding that “nothing in the First Amendment or in this
Case 1:22-cv-00268-JRS-MPB Document 12 Filed 03/02/22 Page 8 of 12 PageID #: 41
9. 9
Court’s case law interpreting it suggests that the rights to speak, associate, and
petition require government policymakers to listen or respond to individuals’
communications on public issues.” Minnesota State Bd. for Cmty. Colleges v. Knight,
465 U.S. 271, 286 (1984). Thus, with neither the obligation to listen nor respond to
the press, Plaintiff’s complaint that he was unable to “informally interact” with the
Attorney General at the press conference, or that his assertion that he may be
unable to do so in the future, fails to state a claim.
Not only has the Supreme Court refused to acknowledge a “right to interact,”
but lower federal courts have consistently rejected “right to interact” claims under
the First Amendment. For example, in Baltimore Sun Co. v. Erhlich, the Fourth
Circuit held that the Maryland governor and other officials did not violate the First
Amendment by instructing public employees not to talk to a newspaper and two of
its reporters because of plaintiffs’ alleged lack of objectivity, which had resulted in
officials’ refusal to answer the reporters’ questions and the exclusion of one reporter
from a small press briefing. 437 F.3d 410, 415–16 (4th Cir. 2006). Likewise, a
federal district court held that a city’s mayor could exercise her right not to speak
with certain reporters and decline to comment on behalf of the city to the media
without violating the First Amendment. Raycom Nat’l v. Campell, 361 F.Supp.2d
679, 683–84 (N.D. Ohio 2004); see also Danielson v. Huether, 355 F.Supp.2d 849
(Dist. S.D. 2018) (“government officials have no First Amendment obligations to
respond to a particular reporter”); Alaska Landmine v. Dunleavy, 514 F.Supp.3d
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1123, 1133 (D. Alaska 2021) (holding that a right of interaction is not protected by
the First Amendment).
Indeed, a right to interaction would intrude on the government’s right and
ability to convey its message, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized,
see, e.g., Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, 555 U.S. 460, 468 (2009); Rust v.
Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (1991), and would be “inconsistent with the journalist’s
accepted role in the ‘rough and tumble’ political arena,” Baltimore Sun Co., 437 F.3d
at 419. As the Fourth Circuit explained, public officials regularly choose among
reporters when granting interviews or disclosing nonpublic information, and
reporters are accustomed to ingratiating themselves with these officials. Id. at 417–
19. Accordingly, the Court rejected the notion “that a reporter of ordinary firmness
can be chilled by a politician’s refusal to comment or answer questions on account of
the reporter’s previous reporting.” Id. at 419. Not only is it a “common and widely
accepted practice among politicians [to] grant an exclusive interview to a particular
reporter” but it is an “equally widespread practice of public officials declining to
speak to reporters whom they view as untrustworthy because the reporters have
previously violated a promise of confidentiality or otherwise distorted their
comments.” Snyder v. Ringgold, 133 F.3d 917 (4th Cir. 1998) (unpublished).
II. Plaintiff lacks standing to seek injunctive relief.
Plaintiff lacks standing to seek injunctive relief because a past incident does
not constitute the real and immediate threat of future injury necessary to make out
a case or controversy justifying injunctive relief unless it featured unlawful conduct.
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As the party invoking the Court’s jurisdiction, Plaintiff has the burden to establish
standing “for each form of relief sought.” Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl.
Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 185 (2000).
It is well-settled that a plaintiff cannot rely on past instances of allegedly
unlawful conduct to establish standing to obtain injunctive or declaratory relief.
Even past illegal conduct “does not in itself show a present case or controversy
regarding injunctive relief . . . if unaccompanied by any continuing, present adverse
effects.” O’Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 495–96 (1974). Setting aside the legality
of the Attorney General’s past conduct, Plaintiff alleges no such “present, adverse
effects” here. More fundamentally, a plaintiff who can point to no concrete threat of
future injury (such as enforcement of an allegedly unconstitutional statute) can rely
on past conduct to establish a likely future injury only where that past conduct was
wrongful: “[P]ast wrongs are evidence bearing on whether there is a real and
immediate threat of repeated injury.” Id. Here, for the reasons demonstrated above,
Plaintiff has plead facts demonstrating that no past wrongs occurred. Accordingly,
Plaintiff has no grounds justifying federal court jurisdiction over a claim for
injunctive relief. This jurisdictional defect is a separate basis for dismissing the
complaint.
Conclusion
Plaintiff’s suit should be dismissed because he has failed to allege a violation
of the First Amendment and his allegations negate any legitimate basis for
prospective relief.
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Respectfully submitted,
THEODORE E. ROKITA
Attorney General of Indiana
Date: March 2, 2022 By: Jefferson S. Garn
Deputy Attorney General
Caryn N. Szyper
Deputy Attorney General
Patricia Orloff Erdmann
Chief Counsel
OFFICE OF INDIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL
TODD ROKITA
Indiana Government Center South, 5th Floor
302 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2770
Phone: (317) 234-7119
Fax: (317) 232-7979
Email: Jefferson.Garn@atg.in.gov
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