Biden Admin Has ‘Made A Mockery’ Of 1st Amendment; Turley Responds To SCOTUS Ruling On Biden Censorship Case

President Joe Biden and his administration have “made a mockery of the First Amendment,” according to George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, and the Supreme Court’s Wednesday decision in Murthy v. Missouri failed to put a stop to it.

Turley made an appearance on Wednesday on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” where he broke down the ruling and the case for anchor Dana Perino.

WATCH:

Jonathan Turley breaks down the frustrating anti-free speech ruling in Murthy v. Missouri.

“The Government is engaging in censorship by surrogate… they have made a mockery of the limits of the 1st Amendment.” pic.twitter.com/K2eKnJtloF

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) June 26, 2024

“You call yourself a free speech absolutist,” Perino began, asking Turley, “What does this mean?”

“Well, it’s very frustrating for the free speech community because standing is often used to block meritorious claims,” Turley replied. “This is one of the most fundamental issues that we are facing.”

“I wrote about this issue, this case, in my recent book,” Turley continued. “You have one of the largest censorship systems in our history — if not the largest — it’s been called Orwellian by lower court judges. And what the court is saying is that ‘we won’t hear you on this issue because you’re not the right litigant.'”

Turley went on to say that he wasn’t a fan of such decisions, arguing that they prevented the court from ruling when it should have a say on “such important constitutional questions.”

“This issue will have to wait for another day,” he added. “One of the things that many of us have been arguing — for years — is that the government is engaging in censorship by surrogate. I testified about this in Congress — that they have made a mockery of the limits of the First Amendment by doing indirectly what they’re barred from doing directly.”

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Two Republican state officials and five conservative social media users brought the challenge in Murthy v. Missouri, claiming that the White House’s pressure campaigns on social media companies to remove what the Biden administration deems “misinformation” amounted to censorship by proxy.

The Daily Wire is suing the Biden administration in a separate social media censorship case, alleging that the U.S. State Department is engaging with and promoting censorship technology designed to bankrupt domestic media outlets with disfavored political opinions. Last month, a federal judge rejected the State Department’s attempt to get the censorship lawsuit dismissed. The Daily Wire is joined by The Federalist and the state of Texas as plaintiffs in the case.

Zach Jewell contributed to this report.