The (McAllen) Monitor says an open meetings lawsuit filed by a handful of Texas cities has gotten attention across the country and offers us some perspective from First Amendment experts in their story on the lawsuit this week.

“It’s had a ripple effect in the First Amendment community,” said David Hudson, an expert at the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. “It really has the potential to be a real bellwether decision.”

The officials who are suing claim the Texas Open Meetings Act violates their right to free speech, the Associated Press reported earlier this month:

The act prohibits a quorum of members of a governmental body from deliberating in secret.

Plaintiffs argue that some communication — including e-mail or social media Web sites — by a quorum of elected officials should be allowed outside of a posted meeting.

The Monitor says the officials complain that the law is too "vague." But an open government advocate says that's a problem that can be easily solved.

“If the true concern is that the act is too vague, they can go to the attorney general for an opinion advising them whether certain conduct will be in violation,” Laura Prather, president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas tells the Monitor. “They have the right to do that and they haven’t done it. It’s a scorched Earth approach.”