Supreme Court Justice Claims 1st Amendment Is Making It Hard For Govt To Censor Speech

“It’s for your safety!” the government cries as it tries to remove more of our rights.

“It’s our job to protect you!” they say to justify censorship that they deem ‘harmful’.

So once again we have a Democrat advocating to silence those who post wrongthink online.

But this time it’s from a Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She states that “the First Amendment (is) hamstringing the federal government in significant ways..”

Who put this mad woman in this position of power?

The whole point of the 1st Amendment is to make it harder to be censored.

I think she forgets that she works for us.

"Judge Jackson said 'You've got the First Amendment hamstringing the government.'" – @Jim_Jordan pic.twitter.com/d8G40bIpJ3

— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) March 18, 2024

Fox News reports:

In a debate Monday at the Supreme Court challenging the Biden administration’s alleged coordination with Big Tech to censor certain messages, one justice raised eyebrows in her comments about the government’s relationship with the First Amendment.

The case stems from a lawsuit brought by Republican-led states Missouri and Louisiana that accused high-ranking government officials of working with giant social media companies “under the guise of combating misinformation” that ultimately led to censoring speech on topics that included Hunter Biden’s laptop, COVID-19 origins and the efficacy of face masks — which the states argued was a First Amendment violation.

In nearly two hours of oral arguments, the justices debated whether the Biden administration crossed the constitutional line, and whether its outreach efforts with private companies amounted to permissible persuasion or encouragement versus illegal coercion or threats of retaliation.

“It’s got these big clubs available to it, and so it’s treating Facebook and these other platforms like their subordinates,” Justice Samuel Alito said. But Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson took a different approach.

“Your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the federal government in significant ways in the most important time periods,” she told the lawyer representing Louisiana, Missouri and private plaintiffs.

“The government actually has a duty to take steps to protect the citizens of this country… by encouraging or even pressuring platforms to take down harmful information,” she said.

“Justice Jackson appears to be saying that she believes that the states’ view would prevent the government from explaining its facts or positions to the social media companies when there is some danger or imminent threat,” John Shu, a constitutional attorney who served in both Bush administrations, told Fox News Digital, noting that the “heart” of the case “revolves around where the differentiating line between persuasion and coercion exists.”

“The First Amendment does not prevent government officials from complaining about a particular post or explaining why the post is factually incorrect. In fact, that’s why X has the ‘Community Notes’ function,” he said.

However, Shu noted that the First Amendment “prevents government officials from coercing, whether explicitly or implicitly, publishers to remove posts or articles because the government disagrees with or doesn’t like that viewpoint, even if it is under the guise of ‘national security’ or ‘public health.’”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey told Fox News Digital in an interview that Justice Jackson was “absolutely right.”

“It is hamstringing, and it’s supposed to. The whole purpose of the Constitution is to protect us from the government, and the government exists to protect our rights. But here, the federal government is ignoring our First Amendment protections and weaponizing the federal government to silence our voices,” Bailey said.

“And she’s right. It limits what the federal government can and can’t do. And that’s a good thing,” he added.

This is the most horrifying thing I've ever heard from a Supreme Court Justice.

Ketanji Brown-Jackson is concerned that the First Amendment is making it harder for the government to censor speech.

That's literally the entire point.pic.twitter.com/oqBwVZQB0l

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 18, 2024