The Government Has No Rights

and everybody knows what the king means

Yesterday a U.S. District Judge in Louisi—

A TRUMP APPOINTEE, the media will be sure to tell you, as if that information were relevant—if the President who appointed a U.S. District Judge made a difference, they would be able reliably to tell you, based on the facts and holding of a given case, whether the judge was a Democratic or Republican appointee, and I’m confident, as someone who has been practicing before federal judges for almost 30 years and cannot do so, that they also cannot.

—Yesterday a U.S. District Judge in Louisiana signed an injunction barring a list of U.S. Government agencies and agents¹ (each in its, his, or her official capacity) from encouraging social-media companies to suppress constitutionally protected speech.

I have seen three objections raised to this ruling:

1. The states that were plaintiffs in the case, Louisiana and Missouri, have no standing.

2. The injunction infringes the defendant’s right to free speech.

3. The defendants do not violate the First Amendment when, in their official capacity, they encourage social-media companies to suppress constitutionally protected speech.