Texas woman believes constitutional rights were violated at a congressional town hall

An audience member at a Rep. Joe Barton town hall earlier this month has a complaint.

Jana Lynne Sanchez plans to run for the 6th Congressional District and, according to a letter sent to the Star-Telegram, was handing out some of her campaign literature during a recent town hall hosted by Barton, R-Ennis, who represents that district.

Sanchez said she was told not to hand out any of her literature during the gathering because it “was a federal meeting.”

Attorney David R. Schleicher sent a letter on her behalf to Barton’s office recently, stating that Barton’s staffers “appear to have violated the constitutional rights of Ms. Sanchez and possibly others” during the gathering.

“While Members of Congress and their legislative staffs are given great deference by the courts in what they say related to congressional actions, such protections do not extend to staff in their role as employees of a campaign and do not grant an unlimited license to violate citizens’ rights to free speech,” Schleicher’s letter stated. “This was an event to which the public was invited, to discuss political issues with you.”

Barton, whose district includes much of Arlington, has a longstanding policy of not allowing any campaign information — his or anyone else’s — to be handed out at town hall meetings he hosts, Todd B. Tatelman, associate general counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote in a letter responding to Schleicher.

“This long-established and clearly valid policy has not been controversial in the past, but in light of your client’s apparent lack of awareness of this policy, Congressman Barton and his staff intend to provide detailed notice of this policy in connection with future official town hall meetings to avoid any possible confusion on this issue,” Tatelman wrote.

“This will be accomplished by including the forum rules and restrictions in the announcement of future events, as well as by posting signs summarizing the forum rules and other guidelines for attendance near the doors to the events as participants enter.”

This story was originally published March 27, 2017 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Texas woman believes constitutional rights were violated at a congressional town hall."