MEDIA ACCESS IN ONE STATE: FINALE

Powerline ^ | 11/17/20

[Liberty7732]

I brought a section 1983 lawsuit against Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm and MDH Communications Director Michael Schommer for excluding me from the MDH press briefings on and after April 27. I alleged that they excluded me on political grounds in violation of the First Amendment. They moved to dismiss the lawsuit on the ground that I failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. I moved for a preliminary injunction ordering them to reinstate me to the press briefing conference line.

My lawsuit stands at the intersection of politics, public policy, COVID-19 and the First Amendment. We put in evidence that brought the case right into the office of Governor Walz. I think it’s an important case, yet it has attracted no local media interest. My reports on the case in this series have been a Power Line exclusive. The Washington Free Beacon’s Collin Anderson covered my exclusion here and follows up today here.

The case was assigned to Judge Donovan Frank. On June 18 Judge Frank held a two-hour hearing by Zoom. I reported on the hearing here. Judge Frank denied both motions. I posted Judge Frank’s ruling here.

Taking the allegations of my amended complaint as true, Judge Frank held that my First Amendment claims against Malcolm and Schommer are legally sufficient. He applied the First Amendment limited public forum analysis on which my lawsuit was predicated. If Malcolm and Schommer excluded me from the calls on political grounds, that exclusion was illegal. See memorandum and order at 12-14 & note 4.

[Robert DeLong]

The author is Scott Johnson

[Robert DeLong]

Scott won, that’s good. 8>)