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Gonzalez v. Trevino

No. 22-1025 SCOTUS · Decided SCOTUS

Argued: Mar 20, 2024 Decided: Jun 20, 2024

📄 Read the Opinion

Decision

Opinion John G. Roberts, Jr.

The Law · How the Case Works

Opinion of the Court

John G. Roberts, Jr.

Overview

Sylvia Gonzalez was elected to Castroville, Texas city council and immediately circulated a petition calling for removal of the city manager. Allied with the opposing mayor. Within months she was arrested on a charge of mishandling a petition collected during a city council meeting. A charge no one in the county had ever been prosecuted for. She sued for retaliatory arrest under the First Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in June 2024 that Nieves v. Bartlett allows narrow exceptions where a plaintiff shows objective evidence that others who committed the same offense were not prosecuted.

The Conclusion

Conclusion

The Supreme Court held 6-3 that retaliatory arrest claims survive Nieves v. Bartlett if a plaintiff shows objective evidence that others committed the same offense without prosecution. Gonzalez, arrested for circulating a petition calling for removal of the city manager, could advance her First Amendment retaliation claim on that showing.

The Record · 1 original document