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(CN) — A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by a trio of conservative journalists to force the Washington lawmakers to provide them with press passes after they had unsuccessfully applied for them.
Chief U.S. District Judge David Estudillo agreed with the state defendants that they were entitled to deny media credentials to journalists who are actively participating in politics or whose main job isn’t news reporting.
“The court is unable to conclude at this time that these guidelines are unreasonable or not intended to ensure those who obtain press passes are professional journalists employed by news organizations, which is reasonably related to the goal of establishing a line between professional journalism and political or policy work,” the Joe Biden appointee said.
“Even further, the guidelines identify a clear directive in maintaining an independent press separate from the government, political parties and interested groups,” the judge added in denying the journalists’ request for a temporary restraining order.
The state House of Representatives argued it applies viewpoint neutral criteria to ensure that individuals granted floor access are bona fide journalists serving as independent observers, not participants in the political process.
The three, the state defendants claimed, didn’t meet those criteria because two of them were actively involved in political advocacy concerning initiatives before the Legislature and the third one applied for a press pass as a representative of a political think tank, not a news organization.
“We are not done with this fight,” Jackson Maynard, a lawyer from the Citizen Action Defense Fund representing the journalists, said in a statement. “We strongly disagree with the court’s decision on the injunction motion and while we are not appealing it given the short time left in session, we will continue to litigate this case until we either prevail or exercise every viable legal option. Our goal is to get our clients the access they are entitled to by the Constitution as members of the press.”
Radio host Ari Hoffman, podcaster Brandi Kruse and correspondent Jonathan Choe asked Estudillo on Monday to make the state issue them press passes for the last three days of the legislative session.
“My clients are the eyes and ears of the people in the legislative process,” Maynard argued at the hearing.
The three claimed the guidelines are not only vague and unclear, but incorrectly applied to them based on their editorial work in violation of their press freedoms.
“My clients are allowed to take sides,” Maynard told the judge. “They engage in political editorial work, they are allowed to do that. Freedom of the press is not founded to protect speech in favor of the government.”
The media figures argued by the Legislature’s reasoning, any outlet featuring an editorial page or affiliated with a lobbying group should be barred from receiving a press pass, like The Seattle Times.
“Our position is not that Seattle Times reporters should not get press passes — they absolutely should,” Maynard said. “It demonstrates why these criteria are not workable.”
But a lawyer for the state House of Representatives argued the media figures misrepresented their involvement in public policy.
“The plaintiffs here were not just attending an event,” said Jessica Goldman, attorney with Summit Law Group representing the Legislature. “These plaintiffs did way more than that; they were the leaders of these events, they were the keynote speakers.”
For example, Hoffman — a talk radio host — was the guest speaker at a political action committee rally last November for Let’s Go Washington.
Kruse, who hosts a podcast with the tagline “political commentary for the antifringe,” is the ambassador for an organization whose mission statement is to “change the course of Washington state to prioritize policies that will allow our citizens, entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive and prosper.”
Choe works for the Discovery Institute, a conservative public policy think tank, and Turning Point USA.
“It’s a little bit different than this idea of mere attendance,” Goldman told the judge.
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