Texas/Florida Social media ruling……..
The Supreme Court has suspended a Texas law banning online platforms from restricting user posts based on their political views, representing a major win for social media companies.
In a 5-4 ruling, the court granted an emergency stay request on Tuesday from tech industry groups that petitioned to block the law, which is being appealed in a federal appellate court. The companies have argued the law violates their First Amendment rights to control what content they disseminate on their websites and platforms.
The Texas law — which a federal appeals court allowed to go into effect on May 11 — allows both the state of Texas and individual Texans to sue companies if they “censor” an individual based on their viewpoints or their geographic location by banning them or blocking, removing or otherwise discriminating against their posts…
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Florida also has a similar social media law (SB 7072) that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week was largely unconstitutional, siding with the tech trade groups’ arguments that it violated their First Amendment rights. Similar bills have also been introduced in GOP-controlled legislatures of Michigan and Georgia….
Note….
This ruling WAS 5-4 AGAINST a Red State (And another standing in the wings), eh?
Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary ruling…
Late Thursday(?…Tuesday?) afternoon, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito stayed the lower court’s ruling that was central to McCormick’s arguments, pending “further order of the undersigned or of the Court.” Alito’s order came just hours after a deadline he set asking parties in the case to file briefs about the stay, which was requested by one of the judicial candidates involved in the suit.
Almost concurrently with Alito’s stay, the Pennsylvania state Supreme Court dealt another blow to McCormick. There, the court declined to exercise its “King’s Bench Powers” to hear the case directly, instead of having it wind its way through the lower court system.
It was a rapid change of direction from just earlier in the afternoon, where a lower state court heard arguments from the campaigns about counting the undated ballots. In questioning attorneys for both candidates and the Department of State, Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer seemed at times receptive to the argument that the undated ballots should be counted….
Supreme Court Abortion ruling leak probe….
Supreme Court officials are escalating their search for the source of the leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, taking steps to require law clerks to provide cell phone records and sign affidavits, three sources with knowledge of the efforts have told CNN.