Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has won a preliminary injunction against the White House and other federal defendants in a lawsuit alleging government censorship of anti-vaccine speech on social media.
However, the injunction will remain on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on related cases brought by Missouri and Louisiana.
Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said Wednesday that the injunction was warranted because Kennedy had shown a strong likelihood of success based on his claims.
White House defendants, Surgeon General defendants, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defendants, Federal Bureau of Investigation defendants, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency defendants likely violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. said Doughty.
Kennedy’s class action complaint, filed with medical expert Connie Sampognaro and Kennedy’s nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, alleges that since early 2020, the federal government has (formerly known as Twitter). , to censor constitutionally protected speech.
Specifically, President Kennedy said that the government should “ ‘I’m hesitant‘ Regarding the mandatory new coronavirus vaccine. ”
Kennedy said that these defendants “jointly participated in social media activities;” Doughty said the platforms “inject themselves into the private affairs of social media companies, blurring the lines between public and private activities.”
Mr. Kennedy and his co-plaintiffs “have demonstrated the likelihood of injury from the impending litigation, the imminence of that injury, and the inability of monetary damages to fully repair the injury,” the 1986 No. He cited a circuit court decision.
Doughty also granted an injunction in the Missouri case. The case was decided in July 2023 and is currently being heard by the Supreme Court.High Court, October 20, 2023, granted the writ of certiorari and stayed the preliminary injunction pending the court’s decision.
The Missouri case was consolidated with Kennedy’s case in the Western District of Louisiana in July 2023. The Supreme Court denied Kennedy’s motion to intervene on December 11, 2023.
The injunction states that the named federal defendants “have no right to force social media companies, whether formally or unofficially, directly or indirectly, to delete, delete, or remove posted social media content, including by modifying algorithms. It is prohibited to take any action that would force or substantially encourage suppression or reduction. Freedom of speech was protected. ”
Mr. Doughty denied the injunction against the U.S. State Department defendants, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases defendants, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Treasury Department, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. together with directors and/or employees.
Welborn & Hargett represents Kennedy.
The case is Kennedy v. Biden, 2024 BL 49179, WD LA, No. 23-cv-00381, 2/14/24.