Cities lose open meetings case

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - A federal judge in West Texas has ruled that four Texas cities can't sue that state over its open meetings law.

In the nine-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Junell of Pecos concluded that the cities of Alpine, Pflugerville, Rockport and Wichita Falls can't sue Texas and Attorney General Greg Abbott to overturn the state law.

The cities and more than a dozen elected officials sued Abbott and the state last year. They argued that the Texas Open Meetings Act violates the officials' First Amendment rights to free speech by barring elected officials from deliberating in secret.

The city of Pflugerville joined the lawsuit in December 2009. The city's petition claimed Abbott's interpretation of the Texas Open Meetings Act hurt the ability of city leaders to perform their jobs.

The petition claimed Abbott's opinion "prevents elected officials from doing what they are elected to do-- speak in public or private on issues facing the public."

"We seek nothing more than to enforce freedom of speech for public officials the citizens of Texas have elected to speak for them," read the Pflugerville petition .

The city's legal department said on its website that no tax dollars were used to fund the lawsuit.

The open meetings act bars a quorum of elected members of a governmental body from deliberating in secret. Violators can face up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

The plaintiffs argued some communication by a quorum of elected officials, including e-mail and social media websites, should be allowed outside of a publicly posted meeting.

The state had argued cities are created by the state and therefore cannot sue their creator for constitutional violations.

Junell concluded that while the state's argument was overly broad, the open meetings law is about individual rights.

A spokesman for Abbott's office did not immediately comment on the ruling.