Late last month, without fanfare, and zero media coverage, a striking document that suggests the federal government should be able to censor the speech of Americans—in violation of the First Amendment—was authored by several of our nation’s top medical associations.
The document—by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and three other medical organizations—came in the form of a legal brief filed in relation to Missouri v Biden, a free speech case that will be heard by the Supreme Court this spring. The case centers on a suit by three doctors and two other citizens who have thus far successfully argued in lower courts that the federal government coerced social media platforms to censor them, in violation of their first amendment rights, because they attempted to post content that was disfavored by the authorities. In advance of the court date, numerous amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs—among them the one from the medical associations—have been submitted to the court by various groups, advocating for one interest or another relevant to the case, hoping to inform and influence the justices.
More.