David Flash, the publisher of Big Bend Times—an online news outlet—has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Jeff Davis County officials alleging they unlawfully detained him and charged him with unconstitutional harassment charges, among other attempts to stifle his work as a journalist and violate his constitutional rights.
The 51-page lawsuit, filed on January 18 in federal court in Pecos, Texas states that: “The elected policymaking officials of Jeff Davis County, being County Judge Curtis Evans, Sheriff Victor Lopez, and joined by County Attorney Glen Eisen, Justice of the Peace Mary Ann Luedecke individually and in concert with each other acted under color of law to chill and suppress by intimidation, seizure, arrest, that also constituted prior restraints to Flash’s exercise of his constitutional rights.”
Flash’s complaint outlines an “unconstitutional” banning of him from the Jeff Davis County Courthouse, and a June 27 confrontation in which he was detained for photographing a Commissioners Court meeting. County Judge Evans and Sheriff Lopez said he was being “disruptive.”
“While being handcuffed, Flash was injured from the excessive use of force that led to his being unlawfully detained for approximately thirty minutes during which time Flash was unlawfully charged with disorderly conduct under Texas Penal Code § 42.01,” the lawsuit states. The ongoing conflict also included a traffic citation, a “false” warrant notice sent to Flash and the proceedings around the county’s harassment charges filed against him. All charges and legal issues were eventually dismissed.