"If the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history."
That is what federal judge Terry Doughty wrote in his decision ordering a number of Biden administration officials and agencies from communicating censorship requests to social media companies.
But Judge Doughty’s ruling was not shocking to those who have been subjected to social media censorship. What was shocking is how long it has taken for this type of First Amendment affirming ruling to be made.
What has been shocking is the brazen willingness of those who have sworn to uphold the Constitution to rip the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments to shreds for political gain.
The GOP’s ascension to the majority in the House of Representatives has unleashed a torrent of investigations and inquiries into the censorship regime at the Justice Department, Homeland Security and elsewhere in the federal government. The goal of all this research and talk has been simple. Identify the problems, figure out what can be done about it, and then have the fight in Congress to prevent it from ever happening again.
The third stage of this basic battle for liberty is being engaged as Sens. Eric Schmitt and Rand Paul, along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, are introducing wide-sweeping legislation designed to put the federal government censorship genie back in the bottle.
Their legislation is the most important bill introduced in Congress this year and perhaps in the past decade as it puts legal stop signs up against federal government civil rights abuses and creates a right of action against those who suffer under those abuses.
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The original Bill of Rights had 10 separate liberties identified by the founders as needing protection from the government created by the U.S. Constitution. Below are 10 key protections contained in the Paul, Schmitt and Jordan legislation.
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These key protections, along with others contained within the legislation, effectively end all prior laws, grants and other actions which have been used to implement and enforce a federal government censorship regime that seemed to grow up overnight, but whose seeds were planted in laws like the Patriot Act.
This legislation’s far-reaching impact recognizes that the temptation to use the federal government to shout and shut down your political opposition is strong.
For example, Robert Kennedy, Jr., who now testifies and argues against censorship, has as recently as 2014 used his influence and power to urge the targeting and destruction of both corporations and private nonprofit organizations like the Competitive Enterprise Institute, over their opposition to his position on climate change.
Our Founders’ overriding concern as they were creating a new government was the potential for abuse of individual liberties even with the balance of powers created by the Constitution. This is why, three years after the Constitution went into effect, the Bill of Rights was ratified.
This comprehensive legislation is offered with the very spirit that drove George Mason and James Madison to push for ratification of those first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. To protect individual liberties of all Americans against a federal government which has grown too powerful and arrogant in its use of the power.
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A government that has forgotten its place as the "securer of God-given rights" is now being challenged by those elected by the people to protect them.
People across the nation are frustrated by the idea that it seems as though Congress only talks but doesn’t ever act. And they are right, progress on tough issues is often grindingly slow. But it is necessarily slow, as it is more important to get it right than to get it done fast.
But today, the shoe is on the other foot. Sens. Schmitt and Paul and Chairman Jordan have gotten it right in this legislation to end the political weaponization of our federal government.
Now it is the people’s responsibility to let Congress know that they expect them to act to protect liberty using every tool at their disposal.
It is time for civil libertarians on both the left and right to join together in support of these sweeping reforms to ensure that this current threat to our basic liberties is pulled out root and branch.
