Gonzalez v. Trevino

Sylvia Gonzalez, a Castle Hills city councilwoman, organized a petition to remove the city manager. She was later arrested for allegedly tampering with a government record by placing a petition in her binder. Gonzalez sued Mayor Edward Trevino and others, claiming the arrest was retaliation for her First Amendment activity. The Fifth Circuit held her claim failed under Nieves v. Bartlett because probable cause existed and no exception applied. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed, clarifying that the Nieves exception does not require a plaintiff to show a nearly identical comparator; evidence that she was arrested under circumstances where officers typically would not make an arrest can suffice.

The Supreme Court vacated the Fifth Circuit's judgment and remanded, holding that the Fifth Circuit applied an unduly narrow comparator standard.

Whether the Nieves v. Bartlett exception to the no-probable-cause requirement for retaliatory arrest claims requires a plaintiff to produce comparator evidence of similarly situated individuals who were not arrested, or whether weaker evidence can suffice.

The decision clarifies protections against retaliatory arrests, making it easier for plaintiffs to pursue First Amendment claims even when probable cause exists by not requiring nearly identical comparators.