Sally Priester v. Puerto Rico Department of Health, et al.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Dr. Priester, M.D., exerted her rights under the Free Speech, Freedom of Association, and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment by speaking in public meetings, churches, and the media about topics ranging from the unscientific, draconian measures imposed by the government to the mRNA vaccine ingredients that included cells of aborted fetuses. In April, 2021, Respondent Puerto Rico Department of Health issued Resolution 2021-04 ordering Dr. Priester to: “CEASE AND DESIST from making, expressing, communicating, disseminating, . . . and/or endorsing, by any means of communication or in person, messages . . . against the health efforts . . . with respect to . . . the Coronavirus Pandemic . . . , as well as any of its variants” apprising her that “[f]ailure to comply with this Order may entail severe monetary and disciplinary penalties and/or even judicial contempt.” The district court denied Petitioner’s motion for preliminary injunction challenging the gag order on Younger abstention grounds. After staying Petitioner’s interlocutory appeal for almost two years, the court of appeals entered an order dismissing the case as moot. The Questions Presented Are:

1. Whether, a physician has a First Amendment right to publicly speak on healthcare matters in the public square without government interference or disciplinary actions by licensing boards.

2. Whether the First Circuit decision should be reversed, as this case meets the exceptions to mootness that this Court articulated in Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167 (2000) and FBI v. Fikre, 601 U.S. 234 (2024).