San Juan, Puerto Rico — The Puerto Rico Supreme Court on Friday denied two petitions filed by Gov. Jenniffer González Colón that sought urgent intervention over the practice of restricting journalists’ access to press conferences at La Fortaleza, the governor’s official residence and office. With that decision, proceedings will continue before the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, where a separate petition for review filed by the governor remains pending.

The Centro de Periodismo Investigativo sued the governor and Press Secretary Marieli Padró Raldiris in December after its reporters were barred from entering press conferences at La Fortaleza because they did not have certification from the Puerto Rico Department of State. In late February, Judge Iris L. Cancio González of the San Juan Superior Court ruled that requiring journalists to present that credential to attend press conferences at the Executive Mansion violates freedom of the press. Cancio ordered the González Colón administration to stop the practice.

On March 20, the government went before the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals and later filed two requests with the Supreme Court: a petition for intrajurisdictional certification and a motion in aid of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court may grant intrajurisdictional certification in urgent circumstances to take up cases pending before the Superior Court or the Court of Appeals. A motion in aid of jurisdiction, meanwhile, asks a higher court to assume jurisdiction over a case so it can halt and set aside lower-court rulings while it considers the issues before it. The governor also asked the court to overturn Judge Cancio’s ruling. She is represented in the case by attorneys Ramón Rosario Cortés and Gian Carlo Oliver Martínez.

In a unanimous resolution, the Supreme Court on Friday, March 28, denied the requests to review Judge Cancio González’s ruling at this stage. Associate Justice Roberto Feliberti Cintrón issued a statement, joined by Associate Justices Mildred Pabón Charneco, Camille Rivera Pérez and Raúl Candelario López, urging the Court of Appeals to act “expeditiously” so that, “if necessary,” the Supreme Court may later weigh in on the controversy.

“This Supreme Court decision validates why we sued the governor. Requiring a press credential from the Department of State to do journalistic work is unconstitutional. The González Colón administration appears to be on a crusade against the press, and perhaps this decision will give it a sense of how misguided its actions are. The government should focus on the country’s priorities instead of using public resources to limit the press’s watchdog role,” said Carla Minet, executive director of the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo.

Associate Justice Ángel Colón Pérez, in a concurring vote agreeing not to take up the case at this stage, said Judge Cancio González’s ruling was “plainly correct” and that “requiring the above-mentioned certification as a condition for allowing journalists access to press conferences held at La Fortaleza violates the constitutional right to freedom of the press.”

He also said that in disputes involving freedom of speech or freedom of the press, “we are called upon to zealously safeguard the protections of these rights, given their highest constitutional rank.”

The case now returns to the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, where the governor’s appeal remains pending.