The Supreme Court should leave in place a lower court's ruling that former President Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter, a free speech advocacy group argues.<\/p>\n
The public interest in preventing impermissible viewpoint discrimination in government-operated social media accounts weighs heavily in favor of keeping the Second Circuits judgmentin place, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University argues in papers filed Thursday.<\/p>\n
The papers come in response to arguments filed by the Department of Justice on thelast full day of Trump's presidency. <\/p>\n
The government lawyers urged theSupreme Court to find both that the battle over the Twitter blocks is moot -- given that Trump is once again a private citizen -- and that a lower court ruling against him should be vacated.<\/p>\n
The legal battle dates to 2017, when the Knight Institute sued Trump on behalf of seven critics who were blocked by him on Twitter.<\/p>\n
Knight said the blocks violated users' free-speechrights, arguing that Trump's Twitter account was a public forum -- comparable to city streets, parks and other places where the government can't censor people based on their opinions.<\/p>\n
U.S.District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in New York sided with the Knight Institute and ruled that Trump acted unconstitutionally by blocking social media users based on their viewpoints.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department appealed to the 2nd Circuit, arguing that Trump acts in a personal capacity, not an official one, when he blocks people on Twitter. The First Amendmentprohibits the government -- but not private individuals -- from censoring criticism.<\/p>\n
In 2019, the appellate court rejected the White House's position, ruling that evidence of the account'sofficial nature was overwhelming.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department then sought review by the Supreme Court. In its most recent papers, the Justice Department argued that the 2nd Circuitruling was deeply problematic.<\/p>\n
Allowing the decision below to stand would be harmful, no longer to President Trump, but to the Presidency itself and to other governmentalofficials, the Justice Department wrote.<\/p>\n
The Knight Institute counters that the appellate court's ruling should be preserved because it provides a sensible framework that is ofvalue to the legal community and the public.<\/p>\n
The organization added that the 2nd Circuit's decision rests on a unique set of facts and doesn't pre-ordain the result of any futurelawsuit involving other public officials and other accounts that may be used in different ways.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court has had the case on its conference calendar since November, but hasn'tyet said whether it will review the ruling.<\/p>\n
A decision could come as early as Monday.<\/p>\n
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Knight Institute Urges Supreme Court To Preserve Ruling That Trump Violated First Amendment 01\/25\/2021 - MediaPost Communications<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Supreme Court should leave in place a lower court's ruling that former President Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter, a free speech advocacy group argues. Continue reading