Barringer v. Fonseca

Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Date Filed: Nov. 10, 2025

Background: In 2020, police arrested public radio journalist April Fonseca while she was reporting on a sweep of a homeless encampment at a public park in Medford, Oregon. Fonseca, who was covering the evictions for NPR affiliate Jefferson Public Radio, was charged with second-degree trespassing and resisting arrest. 

After a trial judge dismissed the charges in 2022, Fonseca filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Medford, Jackson County, and local officials involved in the incident, alleging, among other things, that they violated her First and Fourth Amendment rights by unlawfully arresting her while she was carrying out constitutionally-protected newsgathering in a public place.

The city of Medford asked a district court judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing in part that Fonseca had no First Amendment right to report at the park that day because the city had ordered it closed to the public. The district court rejected that argument and allowed the lawsuit to proceed. The city appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  

Our Position: In a friend-of-the-court brief joined by 30 news and media organizations, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is urging the Ninth Circuit to affirm the district court’s ruling in favor of Fonseca, arguing that it correctly applied constitutional scrutiny in finding that the city’s actions violated the First Amendment. 

• The First Amendment protects the right of the press and public to document government operations, including encampment sweeps in parks. 

• Constitutional scrutiny is essential to protect the rights of the press, and the district court’s analysis was the correct one. 

From the Brief: “Constitutional safeguards for the press’s ability to report on government operations cannot be disregarded because officials see them as inconvenient or would prefer to carry out enforcement actions away from public view.”

Related: In 2021 and 2022, the Reporters Committee led a large coalition of news outlets and press freedom groups in extensive advocacy efforts urging the city of Medford to drop all charges stemming from Fonseca’s 2020 arrest, arguing in three separate letters that she was engaged in lawful newsgathering protected by the First Amendment when she was arrested.