31-547: Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump , 928 F.3d 226 (2nd Cir. 2019), is a case at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on the use of social media as a public forum . The plaintiffs, Philip N. Cohen , Eugene Gu , Holly Figueroa O'Reilly, Nicholas Pappas, Joseph M. Papp , Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, and Brandon Neely , are a group of Twitter users blocked by U.S. President Donald Trump 's personal @realDonaldTrump account. They alleged that Twitter constitutes
62-681: A public forum , and that a government official blocking access to that forum is a violation of the First Amendment . The lawsuit also named as defendants White House press secretary Sean Spicer and social media director Dan Scavino . The plaintiffs were represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University , which itself was a plaintiff in the case. Though the Knight Institute's Twitter account had not been blocked by Trump,
93-617: A group that promotes increased health coverage. She hosts a weekly call-in television show for Americans with health care and health insurance questions on act.tv, Care Talk. Packard was a featured speaker at the 2020 Democratic National Convention with Joe Biden . A self-employed small business owner, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2017. Believing that the Affordable Care Act saved her life and that without it she would be bankrupt or dead without
124-462: A national bus tour with advocacy organization Courage for America on the debt ceiling crisis in 2023. Moving to Denver, Colorado in 2019, her political advocacy broadened to include challenges to United States Senator Cory Gardner ’s community engagement, and she went on a statewide bus tour with “Cardboard Cory” to accentuate his purported inaccessibility. She also challenged United States Representative Lauren Boebert 's health care record. and
155-497: A personal account", and blocking people from it violates their rights to participate in a "designated public forum". Buchwald introduced the decision by writing: This case requires us to consider whether a public official may, consistent with the First Amendment, “block” a person from his Twitter account in response to the political views that person has expressed, and whether the analysis differs because that public official
186-401: Is considered within the private activities of the official and may be controlled. In response to critics who question whether Twitter should be considered a public forum, Knight Institute senior attorney Katie Fallow cited a 2017 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Packingham v. North Carolina , in which Justice Anthony Kennedy described social media as "the modern public square " and as one of
217-435: Is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges, with seniority determined first by commission date, then by age. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. If no judge qualifies to be chief, the youngest judge over the age of 65 who has served on the court for at least one year shall act as chief until another judge qualifies. If no judge has served on
248-735: Is the President of the United States. The answer to both questions is no. After this ruling, the seven Twitter users that were a part of the lawsuit were unblocked by the managers of Trump's account. In August 2018, the government filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit . Also in August, the Knight First Amendment Institute sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department requesting that
279-400: Is the founder of Health Care Voices, a non-profit grassroots organization for adults with serious medical conditions. She is executive director of the group Health Care Voter, with actress Alyssa Milano , singer T-Boz , politicians Donna Edwards and Anton Gunn , activists Ady Barkan and Brad Woodhouse , and others as co-chairs. Packard is also executive director of Get America Covered,
310-524: The Communications Decency Act had perhaps been construed too broadly, and that Twitter, Facebook, et al., should be regulated as common carriers . The Supreme Court granted certiorari to two similar cases in the 2023–24 term; O'Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed . Both cases originated with disputes over whether the personal accounts of state actors that have been used for government business can block members of
341-677: The Justice Department filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to vacate the Second Circuit ruling on the grounds that Trump was soon leaving office and thus the case no longer concerned his account in its official capacity, thus rendering the case moot . The Knight Institute responded by arguing that the Second Circuit ruling should remain, claiming "The case is moot because President Trump's repeated violation of Twitter's terms of service led that company to shut down his account and to ban him permanently from its platform. Because it
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#1732772511575372-536: The United States Supreme Court : John Marshall Harlan II , Thurgood Marshall , and Sonia Sotomayor . Judge Learned Hand served on the court from 1924 to 1961, as did his cousin, Augustus Noble Hand , from 1927 until 1953. Judge Henry Friendly served from 1959 to 1986. As of July 13, 2024 : Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve, unless
403-738: The 2020 election, and leaving the White House. In June 2017, Spicer stated that Trump's tweets are considered "official statements by the president of the United States". In July 2017, Trump tweeted that his use of social media is "MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL". Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had filed a similar lawsuit in the District of Columbia, alleging violations of the Presidential Records Act for deleting tweets. A month prior to filing this lawsuit,
434-504: The First Amendment deprives a government official of his right to control his personal Twitter account by blocking third-party accounts if he uses that personal account in part to announce official actions and policies." Following the 2020 election, in which Joe Biden was elected president, Biden became the petitioning party for this case (now known as Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute ) and other pending Supreme Court cases, replacing Trump in his role as president. On January 19, 2021,
465-412: The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University sued Donald Trump again, on behalf of users who were blocked before Trump's inauguration, or who were not able to identify which tweet prompted Trump to block them. Trump petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in August 2020 to hear his appeal of the Second Circuit ruling. Trump's petition requested the Supreme Court to answer the question of "Whether
496-447: The Knight Institute had sent a letter to Trump on behalf of two of the blocked Twitter users, asking that they and other blocked users have their accounts unblocked by Trump. The letter argued that Trump's personal Twitter account is a public forum, and that it is therefore unconstitutional to exclude dissenting views. The letter was copied to Spicer, Scavino, and White House counsel Don McGahn . The Trump administration did not respond to
527-530: The President comply with the Judge's ruling and unblock a list of 41 additional Twitter users, including Danny Zuker , MoveOn activist Jordan Uhl, health care activist Laura Packard , and journalists like Alex Kotch and Jules Suzdaltsev. Those users were then unblocked by @realDonaldTrump. Regardless, the Trump Administration appealed the ruling to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals , claiming that
558-620: The care she received through her insurance, she became an outspoken critic of repeal attempts. Her sharp questioning led United States Senator Dean Heller to eject her from a public event, and her criticism of President Donald Trump resulted in him blocking her on Twitter . A 2018 lawsuit, Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump , forced President Donald Trump to reinstate her access to his social media accounts, along with that of 40 others. Packard spoke on five national bus tours with progressive health care advocacy organization Protect Our Care in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023, and
589-478: The circuit justice (the Supreme Court justice responsible for the circuit) is also on the panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the circuit judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy
620-637: The court for more than a year, the most senior judge shall act as chief. Judges can forfeit or resign their chief judgeship or acting chief judgeship while retaining their active status as a circuit judge. When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status , or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982. The court has thirteen seats for active judges, numbered in
651-489: The district court had subjected him to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in violation of his own free speech rights. The Second Circuit issued its decision in July 2019, upholding the district court ruling. The Second Circuit determined that Trump used his Twitter account to conduct official government business, and therefore, he cannot block Americans from the account on the basis of their political views. The government
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#1732772511575682-439: The largest and most influential American federal appellate courts, especially in matters of contract law , securities law , and antitrust law . In the 20th century, it came to be considered one of the two most prestigious federal appellate courts, along with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . Several notable judges have served on the Second Circuit, including three later named Associate Justices of
713-627: The lawsuit argued that they and other followers of the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account "are now deprived of their right to read the speech of the dissenters who have been blocked". The complaint also argued that posts to the @realDonaldTrump account are "official statements". On Twitter, blocked users cannot see or respond to tweets from the account that blocked them. As of July 2017, the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account had 33.7 million followers. Trump's tweets were often retweeted tens of thousands of times, and Trump frequently used Twitter to make policy statements, prior to being suspended from Twitter, losing
744-414: The letter. Oral arguments were heard before Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald on March 9, 2018. On May 23, 2018, Buchwald granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff's motion for an injunction against Trump's blocking of Twitter accounts, ruling that such actions are unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. The court ruled that the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account is "a presidential account as opposed to
775-426: The most important places for the exchange of views. That ruling, which was unanimous, struck down a North Carolina law that prohibited registered sex offenders from accessing social media sites. The Knight ruling has been cited as an important development in the use of social media as a public forum, and the tendency of government officials to try to block access to that forum or delete past communications. The case
806-406: The order in which they were initially filled. Judges who assume senior status enter a kind of retirement in which they remain on the bench but vacate their seats, thus allowing the U.S. President to appoint new judges to fill their seats. Laura Packard Laura Packard (born May 23, 1976) is an American health care activist and political commentator. She
837-496: The public from accessing these accounts. The unanimous ruling in Lindke , held as per curiam in O'Connor-Ratcliffe , found that speech on personal accounts of public officials may be deemed state speech if the official has control of the social media account, and the content of the speech is related to their state activities, and thus may not block others or delete messages critical of that speech. Speech outside these bounds otherwise
868-568: The states of Connecticut , New York , and Vermont , and it has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts : The Second Circuit has its clerk's office and courtrooms at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse at 40 Foley Square in Lower Manhattan . Because the Second Circuit includes New York City , it has long been one of
899-523: Was President Trump's own voluntary actions that made the case moot, the Supreme Court should leave the appeals court's ruling in place." The Supreme Court subsequently vacated the decision and remanded the case to the Second Circuit as to render the case moot on April 5, 2021. Justice Clarence Thomas issued a 12-page concurring opinion, but argued that Twitter and similar companies could face some First Amendment restrictions even though they are not government agencies. Thomas suggested that Section 230 of
930-528: Was cited by a rapporteur public ( advocate general ) of a French appellate court when deciding a similar case, involving the French Immigration Office (OFII) blocking a Twitter user who had made negative comments about the office. Second Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations , 2d Cir. ) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals . Its territory covers
961-518: Was denied an en banc review by the full Second Circuit in March 2020. On the day of the Second Circuit's decision, former New York state representative Dov Hikind and candidate Joey Salads separately sued U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez within New York state federal district court for blocking them from her Twitter account, based on the ruling from the Second Circuit. In July 2020,