Gov’t Can Continue Colluding With Big Tech, 5th Circuit Grants “Administrative Stay” of Injunction
It’s not a decision on the merits, it puts a temporary hold until the court can determine the merits of the District Court injunction that prohibited government collusion with big tech and big social media to silence and censor political opponents.
After a groundbreaking and momentus District Court injunction against the government colluding with big tech and big social media to silence and censor political opponents, the government sought a stay pending appeal, including an emergency administratrive stay pending briefing, Government Seeks Stay Of Injunction Against Censorship Collusion With Big Tech.
The Fifth Circuit just granted an administrative stay:
IT IS ORDERED that this appeal is EXPEDITED to the next available Oral Argument Calendar.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a temporary administrative stay is GRANTED until further orders of the court.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Appellants’ opposed motion for stay pending appeal is deferred to the oral argument merits panel which receives this case.
An administrative stay is not on the merits, it’s a way of the court putting a temporary hold on an issue of great importance until a panel of the court can consider the motion for a stay on the merits. It’s a way to freeze the situation when one party claims time is of the essence and the matter cannot even wait days or weeks.
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Comments
What are the odds that when this case is over the State will be allowed a Propaganda and Agitation Department akin to that in North Korea? only slightly “/sarc”.
Subotai Bahadur
Do you think that Dems are scared shitless that we will be extracting retribution? If I were them, I would be, they wall have to atone for a lot of bad karma.
Can’t collude with Big Tech? That’s okay there are lots of other entities they can collude with.
The book on this era of censorship should be called, “Inconvenient Truths, or the Government’s Near Total Blackout of Information not Supporting its Policies.”
Or “How Biden turned America into a Banana Republic.”
The forward by B.H. Obama….
I’m not sure why the Biden regime is so concerned about this ruling. I have no doubt they plan to evade any restrictions under the guise of national security, or just ignore the decision outright. I mean, what’s the point of being a police state if you can’t ignore a court injunction?
Can’t have a police state without this level of thought control.
Why does the Federal Government’s claim that time is of the essence carry any weight here?
Time is of the essence … because the “cognitive infrastructure” (the thoughts and beliefs and attitudes of millions of serfs, er, citizens) will be irrecoverably altered by even the slightest interruption to censorship?
Why does the Federal Government’s “time is of the essence” claim outweigh the People’s First Amendment “time is of the essence” claim?
A biased judge is why.
Stewart, Graves, and Oldham are the judges
Stewart is a Clinton appointee, and Graves is Obama
Oldham is a Trump appointeee, but this is a crappy draw
I don’t get this ruling. Surely the courts should be coming down on the side of protecting freedom of speech over Government control any day of the week and then making the Govt wait until it goes through the process of the courts to determine whether they can or cannot control the free speech of citizens?!?
You would think that they would favor the citizen’s rights over the government’s desires. It’s basically what the Bill of Rights is about where the people’s rights supercede the government.
This is all about keeping Trump out of the White House, ……and nothing more!
You are claiming that after Trump is no longer on the ballot, call it after Nov ’24, the entire apparatus of Federal agencies will immediately stop all their shenanigans re censorship, shake down of platforms, abusive /intrusive/excessive use of regulatory power and so on so that we return to free and open exchange of ideas without govt thumb on the scale.
You should rethink this claim.
Once again, another lI commentator posts an opinion without even bothering to read the post or the accompanying documents. This is getting really old, and it hurts the credibility of LI.
5th circus doesn’t read the constitution?
That was a rhetorical question, right?
See below. Feds got very lucky with who they drew on the admin panel. Odds don’t favor that they’ll also get lucky on the merits panel, and even if they do it’s very likely the Fifth Circuit en banc would vacate a panel order staying or vacating the injunction.
so the government has a period of time, most likely an extended period of time to come up with a work around in the small possibility that they actually lose again
Time is of the essence because there is a Presidential campaign to steal…again?
So basically the government is going to keep censoring people until the next SCOTUS session?
don’t hold your breath waiting for SCOTUS, Roberts and Barrett, at least will side with the Dems,…anything to get rid of Trump!
When the appeal is argued, can the government add to the record?
As a general rule, no.
Did the judge ever read the US Constitution?
I don’t think this is just about the election. If you are dismantling a society, you want to have the cover story out at all times. And yes, a few weeks of missing propaganda can change people’s thinking.
When Biden administration said “Time is of the essence”, what came to mind is the Ukraine. Social media has had enough information (and disinformation) that many Americans are thoroughly disgusted with the entire situation and no longer think NATO is in the driver’s seat. Many Americans are ok with an unjust war, but they’re not ok with losing.
On the one hand, administrative stays like this are par for the course when a statute is invalidated or the government is enjoined. I just checked PACER and the case is set for oral argument on August 10, so it is definitely on a fast track.
On the other, look at the panel that issued the order. Stewart is a Clinton appointee. Graves is an Obama appointee. Oldham is a PDT appointee. Given the lopsided majority of GOP-nominated judges on the Fifth Circuit, the feds essentially drew to an inside straight on the membership of the motions panel.
These things do happen — kinda like when in Duncan v. Bonta, the Ninth Circuit argument panel wound up including two GOP-appointed judges, who affirmed Judge Benitez’s striking down the California normal capacity magazine ban).
But like the Duncan case (where the Ninth Circuit en banc tied itself in knots to reverse Judge Benitez, only to have SCOTUS vacate that decision post Bruen), even if the feds beat the odds again and happen to draw a favorable merits panel, I have very little doubt the the Fifth Circuit en banc will quickly vacate any stay issued by the merits panel.
Most likely scenario:
The case has now been assigned to a panel for argument. (Who’s on that panel is kept secret until shortly before oral argument, unless the panel identifies itself by issuing an signed order before then.) But the formal motion for stay pending appeal has been sent to the merits panel.
It’s possible that the merits panel could issue an order before oral argument denying a stay pending appeal (and could do so quickly), but most likely will hold it until oral argument.
I thought it ironic that this was issued on the anniversary of the Aliens and Seditions Acts becoming law, back on 14 July 1798. We are in a continuous fight for free speech.
Regards — Cliff.