![]() Howard Schweber, a professor of political science and First Amendment law expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the rulings upheld the idea that a governor has a certain amount of leeway to apply definitions for who is a journalist and who is not. Justices did not provide a written explanation for their decision. The MacIver Institute appealed, but in an order issued Monday, the U.S. "We cannot fathom the chaos that might ensue if every gubernatorial press event had to be open to any 'qualified' journalist with only the most narrowly drawn restrictions on who might be included," Rovner wrote. ![]() Bush, said the governor was under no obligation to grant every media outlet access to every press conference. Rovner, who was nominated to the court by former Republican President George H.W. "There is nothing inherently viewpoint-based about these criteria, and MacIver has not provided any evidence that the Governor's office manipulates these neutral criteria in a manner that discriminates against conservative media." "We find that the Governor's media-access criteria are indeed reasonable and not an effort to suppress MacIver's expression because of its viewpoint," wrote Appeals Judge Ilana Rovner. District Court Judge James Peterson sided with Evers in the dispute and a unanimous 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his decision, ruling on April 9 that it found no evidence Evers engaged in any kind of "viewpoint discrimination" in denying MacIver access. MacIver was denied access, according to the governor's office, because it was not principally a news organization because its lobbying activity, policy advocacy, and self-described status as a "think tank" did not meet the criteria. MacIver argued the governor had violated its First Amendment right to freedom of the press based on the institute's editorial stances.Įvers' office argued the First Amendment did not grant unlimited access to governmental events, and that it had used a neutral set of media access criteria to decide who to invite to the media briefing. MacIver Institute for Public Policy sued Evers in 2019 after the governor's office denied the MacIver News Service access to a media briefing on the state budget. Tony Evers in a dispute with a conservative think tank over media access. Supreme Court won't hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that sided with Gov.
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