Flagstaff City Magistrate Judge Amy Criddle Was Way Out Of Bounds In Granting An Injunction To ‘Snowflake’ Sen. Wendy Rogers

Update to QAnon/MAGA Fascist Sens. Wendy Rogers And Justine Wadsack Are Boosting White Supremacist Kyle Clifton In Rogers’ Attempt To Smear A Reporter.

Seth Stern, Director of Advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation, writes at the Arizona Capitol Times, Alarming restraint against journalist should be dissolved immediately:

The news that a judge granted a restraining order against Arizona Capitol Times journalist Camryn Sanchez for investigating Sen. Wendy Rogers’ residency was alarming to us at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF). It should concern all Americans who value the First Amendment.

Our U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which maintains data on press freedom violations across the country, has no prior record of a restraining order entered against a journalist at the behest of a government official since it began documenting violations in 2017.

This just goes to show how far out of bounds Flagstaff City Magistrate Judge Amy Criddle was in granting this temporary restraining order. She should not be retained as a judge.

The only other restraining order against a journalist recorded by the Tracker arose from a complaint by a cosmetic surgeon in Los Angeles. It was quickly dissolved after the judge learned the surgeon failed to inform her that the individuals he sought to restrain were Los Angeles Times reporters. She then ordered the surgeon to pay the Times’ legal fees.

Most judges (though, unfortunately, not all) understand that the First Amendment does not permit “prior restraints” barring journalists from publishing the news. That was well-established even before the Pentagon Papers case, where the Supreme Court refused to enjoin publication of leaked documents despite the government’s claim of a national security threat.

But many judges don’t realize that the Constitution also protects journalists’ right to gather news, not just publish it. That’s why, for example, judges have to provide journalists with access to their courtrooms and court files, even when they’d rather not. It’s also why a federal appellate court just a couple months ago protected journalists’ First Amendment right to conduct undercover investigations.

And it’s why judges like Flagstaff Justice Court Magistrate Judge Amy Criddle can’t issue restraining orders prohibiting journalists from bothering politicians (in other words, doing what they’re supposed to do). As one court explained, “the protected right to publish the news would be of little value in the absence of sources from which to obtain it.” Rogers made her intention to silence Sanchez clear when she reportedly remarked to the judge that “the idea here is for [Sanchez] to learn their lesson and then leave the situation alone.” [Prior restraint from this “Snowflake” senator.]

All Sanchez is accused of doing is ringing Rogers’ doorbell and attempting to ask her questions — in other words, routine investigative journalism. Of course, she won’t be able to report on Rogers’ residency issues as effectively if she can’t explore all investigatory angles, including those that require her to interact directly with Rogers (or at least try to do so). Not only does that deprive Sanchez of her rights as a journalist but it deprives the public of the potentially important news that Sanchez could expose were she not restrained.

And of course, Rogers isn’t claiming that Sanchez investigating where she lives threatens national security. She can’t even cite a legitimate threat to her own personal safety from Sanchez coming to her doorstep, despite wild speculation that Sanchez might “lash out and try to physically harm me in some fashion.” [Snowflake.]  That’s rich coming from a senator who has reportedly told white nationalist groups she wants her opponents publicly hanged. Presumably she wouldn’t ring their doorbells first.

But Rogers finds Sanchez’s persistence in pursuing undoubtedly legitimate news “creepy,” she says. Sure, most people don’t want reporters at their door asking them questions. That’s one reason why most people don’t run for elected office and subject themselves to the scrutiny of the press and public. Rogers signed up for this and should know better.

As should Judge Criddle, who apparently signed the order without considering its obvious First Amendment problems and without hearing from Sanchez. Criddle reportedly merely took Rogers’ word that it wasn’t “normal” for reporters to come to politicians’ houses when investigating where they live. That’s frankly inexcusable for a judge charged with safeguarding the Constitution.

Let’s hope this outrageous restraining order is swiftly withdrawn and that there are consequences for Rogers – like a sizable attorney’s fee award in favor of Sanchez and the Capitol Times — so that she and other politicians don’t try these kinds of unconstitutional antics again.

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