by John-Michael Dumais, Childrens Health Defense:
The move came less than 24 hours after a lower court rejected a bid by the Biden administration to prevent a preliminary injunction in the Kennedy v. Biden censorship lawsuit from taking effect. The injunction would have prohibited White House officials from coercing social media platforms to suppress or censor online content.
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Lawyers for the Biden administration today filed a motion with the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking to block an injunction that would have prohibited White House officials from coercing or significantly encouraging social media platforms to suppress or censor online content.
The move came less than 24 hours after a lower court denied two crucial motions by government defendants seeking to overturn the preliminary injunction, set to take effect July 7, in the Kennedy v. Biden censorship lawsuit.
Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on Tuesday rebuffed the administration’s attempts to delay or modify the Kennedy v. Biden preliminary injunction.
The injunction was granted in February but temporarily stayed until 10 days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a similar injunction in a related censorship case, Murthy v. Missouri.
On June 26, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the plaintiffs in Murthy v. Missouri did not have standing to bring the case.
In their dissenting opinion, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr. argued that the majority decision was “blatantly unconstitutional” and that the court was “shirk[ing] its duty” by failing to rein in government censorship.
Attorneys for Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — plaintiffs in Kennedy v. Biden — said they believe CHD and Kennedy have standing, and overall, a stronger case.
Given the 5th Circuit’s previous ruling upholding the injunction in the related Missouri v. Biden case (later named Murthy v. Missouri), attorneys who spoke with The Defender were cautiously optimistic about the new developments.
According to Jed Rubenfeld, one of the attorneys representing the Kennedy plaintiffs, the 5th Circuit could grant the government’s emergency stay request pending a hearing on the appeal, a process that could take months.
But the appeals court also could choose to expedite a ruling, perhaps in response to the clear and compelling evidence of the government’s role in thwarting Kennedy — running for U.S. president as an independent — free speech rights during the crucial few remaining months before the election.
After the government filed its motion today for an emergency stay, the court reached out to Kennedy v. Biden attorneys asking them to respond, according to an attorney for the plaintiffs.
CHD CEO Mary Holland told The Defender that in a previous hearing related to Kennedy v. Biden, the 5th Circuit judges compared the government’s actions to “a mafia threat.”
“CHD really is at the front of the pack here on the First Amendment,” Holland said. “It’s moving in our direction. We just have to hold tight and wait for what’s going to happen at the 5th Circuit.”
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