The Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) filed a lawsuit Monday against Governor Jenniffer González Colón and her press secretary, Marieli Padró, for violating freedom of the press by denying journalists from this media outlet access to press conferences at La Fortaleza for not presenting a State Department press credential — a requirement that is unconstitutional.
The journalism organization filed a request for a preliminary and permanent injunction, as well as a declaratory judgment, to challenge the constitutionality of this action that violates freedom of the press, and to ensure that CPI journalists can access and cover press conferences held by the governor and her officials at La Fortaleza without the credential issued by the State Department, and solely with their CPI press credentials, as has always been the case.
In November, Editorial Director Wilma Maldonado Arrigoitía and journalist Luis Valentín Ortiz, both from CPI, faced difficulties at the security checkpoint at La Fortaleza when they were required to present their press credentials to enter events held there. Although they were eventually allowed entry after a lengthy wait, security personnel and press officers at La Fortaleza insisted that state-issued identification is required for attending press conferences.
Although Maldonado Arrigoitía requested the protocol, regulation or law on which this directive is based, to date, none of the officials in Gov. Jenniffer González Colón’s administration have presented any document or certified the information.
On two other occasions in December, Valentín Ortiz and editor Noel Algarín Martínez were separately denied entry to press conferences at La Fortaleza, even though both had their personal identification and their CPI press credentials, which is what has always been required of journalists at La Fortaleza.
“The State Department identification is a document that journalists request and carry with them if they choose, because it is not a requirement to practice journalism. This identification, whose only practical use was access to press parking in certain locations, might be useful for freelance journalists because it can help them access places or sources, and perhaps for journalists who travel outside of Puerto Rico. Requiring it as a condition for covering the Governor is simply a whim,” Maldonado Arrigoitía said.
“For decades, journalists have attended governors’ press conferences showing their media credentials without any problems,” she added.
The State Department credential was established to facilitate access to designated parking areas at public institutions and news events for journalists who request a license plate identifying their vehicle as “press” from the Department of Transportation and Public Works.
The lawsuit argues that “the authority delegated to the State Department to issue press credentials is limited to determining who may apply for a special license plate or removable placard for journalists interested in accessing designated press parking spaces in public places; the press credential issued by the State Department does not constitute a valid mechanism for determining which journalists may access a press conference convened by the Governor or any other official; and limiting access to press conferences convened by the co-defendants, whether held at La Fortaleza or elsewhere, to journalists who possess a valid press credential issued by the State Department violates the right to freedom of the press of the CPI and the co-plaintiff journalists.”
“Freedom of the press cannot be subject to discretionary permits or credentials that are not required by law to practice journalism,” said Carla Minet, CPI’s executive director. “Preventing access to press conferences for not having an administrative ID card created for other purposes is a form of censorship that limits the public’s right to be informed,” she added.
The CPI is legally represented in this case by attorneys Luis José Torres Asencio, Judith W. Berkan Barnett and Steven P. Lausell Recurt of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico’s Access to Information Project.
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