Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other media groups) filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New Mexico in The New Mexican v. Public Service Co. of New Mexico and BHP Billiton New Mexico Coal, Inc. (“PNM” and “BHP”). The case involves a prior restraint to prohibit The New Mexican from publishing records the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission inadvertently disclosed to it in response to a public records request. The brief argues that the Noerr-Pennington doctrine should not be used to immunize litigants from liability when they frivolously attempt to obtain a prior restraint, which is considered presumptively unconstitutional. The brief argues that PNM and BHP’s suit seeking a prior restraint against The New Mexican was not legitimate petitioning activity to which the Noerr-Pennington doctrine applies. [2020]
