Did Free Speech Die With A Whimper in Latest Supreme Court Ruling?

The old try and true “We don’t have standing.” With the ruling by the Supreme court yesterday, we hear once again that the points raised are serious issues but….

The same excuse was used time after time in many of the court challenges with the concerns over voting fraud. The use exceeds our expectations.

This time Supreme Alito pipes up with this from the Daily Caller:

‘Blatantly Unconstitutional’: Justice Alito Writes Blistering Dissent In Biden Admin Censorship Case

Justice Samuel Alito excoriated the Supreme Court majority for “shirk[ing]” its duty to restrain the government’s coercive censorship efforts in “one of the most important free speech cases” to reach the high court in years.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided 6-3 with the Biden administration in Murthy v. Missouri, finding that two states and five individual plaintiffs lacked standing to seek an injunction against the government’s wide-ranging efforts to suppress speech online.

The case concerned the federal government requesting social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter remove certain content related to COVID-19 and other hot-button issues; many of the posts that were censored were factual, and critics argued the Biden administration attempted to censor conservative viewpoints

In his dissent, Alito, who was joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, argued that the majority’s decision “permits the successful campaign of coercion in this case to stand as an attractive model for future officials who want to control what the people say, hear, and think.”

“Their communications with Facebook were virtual demands,” he wrote, pointing to the White House’s many requests to remove “misinformation” related to COVID-19. “And Facebook’s quavering responses to those demands show that it felt a strong need to yield.”

“Facebook’s responses resembled that of a subservient entity determined to stay in the good graces of a powerful taskmaster,” Alito wrote. “When criticized, Facebook representatives whimpered that they ‘thought we were doing a better job’ but promised to do more going forward…And when denounced as ‘killing people,’ Facebook responded by expressing a desire to ‘work together collaboratively’ with its accuser.”

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One can only wonder whether the Supremes are going “wobbly.” Is the constant pressure being put upon them starting to takes its toll?

This is the big one. And the statements that the issue can be revisited with a “proper challenger” is small comfort. Especially now as we conclude this election cycle.

One can only feel concern as we wait for the Trump case regarding immunity.

Jonathan Turley two months ago:

 This was the ‘haymaker’ in SCOTUS arguments on Trump immunity case

The very best of the swamp.