AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) - The Texas Attorney General was sued in Texas federal court for alleged First and Fourteenth amendment violations by multiple individuals.
The complaint was filed on April 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University as well as the following individuals: Mario Carrillo, Joseph Canscino, Justin Champlin, Edward Espinoza, Omar Gallaga, Fatima Maniar, Jennifer Ramos, John Ruffier and James Scurlock.
The individuals range from journalists to project managers to students to campaign managers to attorneys, all of who have criticized Ken Paxton for issues including his policies and his federal fraud indictments and were consequentially blocked from viewing his Twitter account.
The plaintiffs accuse Paxton of unconstitutionally blocking people from his official Twitter account and official statements after they criticized him or his policies. The plaintiffs argue that the First and Fourteenth amendments protect their rights to participate in a public forum with a government official and that viewpoint-based restriction on the plaintiff's ability to petition the government for redress of grievances has been imposed.
The plaintiffs request the court order Paxton unblock the people who have criticized him and award damages deemed fit. They are represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas.