A federal judge said state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters and his spokesman, Dan Isett, are not entitled to a jury trial as part of a lawsuit filed against them by an Oklahoma City television station.
KFOR and three of its journalists sued Walters and Isett on Sept. 23 after the journalists were barred from the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting room during meetings and from subsequent news conferences held by Walters.
In the lawsuit, KFOR contended Walters and Isett have engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by arbitrarily deciding which media outlets can attend public events. The lawsuit seeks to prevent state officials from denying press access based on perceived legitimacy or viewpoint and to strike down any unwritten policies limiting media attendance…