Federal judge prunes claims by Latina politician against Southern California city

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed in part a lawsuit brought by a former city council member who was the first Latina politician elected in recent history in the small Southern California city of Cypress and who claims her colleagues retaliated against her because of her progressive agenda.

U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II, who previously had thrown out Frances Marquez’s lawsuit again agreed with the city that most of her First Amendment claims were legally insufficient.

The judge, however, allowed Marquez to proceed with a retaliation claim based on a city ordinance that was passed after she told students at a local high school that city council was “dysfunctional and corrupt” in September 2020, because the city’s argument, he said, was “undeveloped.”

The city’s resolution censured Marquez, directed her to issue a written apology to Anaheim Union High School District and Cypress High School, revoked her appointment on two alternative assemblies and an ad hoc subcommittee, fined her, and suspended her salary for 90 days.

“Defendants appear to argue that Resolution No. 6905 is not related to protected speech as it is a reprimand for Marquez’s ‘unseemly speech and actions well beyond any normal regulations on the time, place, and manner’ of her speech,’” Wright said. “As argued, it is unclear how the ’time, place, and manner’ standard ties to Marquez’s claim and defendants fail to provide any legal support for making such a connection.”

Wright, a George W. Bush appointee, also allowed Marquez to proceed with her breach of contract claim.

Whereas previously the judge had allowed Marquez to amend her claims to rectify their shortcomings, this time around he dismissed several of her claims with prejudice.

One of Marquez’s attorneys, Lee K. Fink said the ruling was a huge victory for the former council member.

“Fundamentally, this case is about the city illegally, and in violation of Dr. Marquez’s First Amendment rights, fining her and suspending her salary in retaliation for her comments critical of the then-extant city council majority and the now resigned city manager,” Fink Said. “The court denied the city’s request to dismiss that issue, rejecting the city’s only argument that it was simply creating a time, place, and manner restriction. The grounds on which the court granted the motion were largely strawman arguments built by the city for which Dr. Marquez did not actually seek relief.

Attorneys for city didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.

Marquez became the first Latina in recent history to be elected to the five-member Cypress City Council in 2020. She immediately became an outsider on the council, feuding with her colleagues on a number of issues, not least of which was a recent lawsuit.

Shortly after Marquez’s election, two residents of Cypress sued the city over its system of electing city council members “at-large” — that is, the whole city votes for a few candidates, as opposed to breaking it down by district, as is the case in most large cities.

The residents said the system made it harder for minorities to get elected. Marquez, who was already a staunch supporter of switching to “by-district” elections, urged the council to not fight the suit and to change its voting system.

The other four council members overruled her. The city did fight the suit, for years, until 2024 when it settled and converted to a by-district electoral process.

But in the meantime, Marquez was pushed to the political periphery. She was censured by her colleagues twice — once for “repeatedly interfer[ing] with the City Manager’s selection of a department director by insisting in being included in the selection process," the other time for speaking at a high school.

The council said she was campaigning there; Marquez denied it. The second censure ordered her to formally apologize to the school, fined her $100, and suspended her salary for three months.

Marquez decided not to run for reelection, opting instead to run for a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, a race she lost.

She also decided to sue, accusing the city council, mayor and city manager of engaging in “a campaign of harassment and retaliation” against her, all because she supported change and reform. She said they violated her First Amendment right to free speech when they censured her and when one of her colleagues attacked her during a council meeting.

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