{"id":2401778,"date":"2025-02-12T11:19:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T16:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judges-pauses-litigation-on-murthy-v-missouri\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T11:21:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T16:21:16","slug":"judges-pauses-litigation-on-murthy-v-missouri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judges-pauses-litigation-on-murthy-v-missouri\/","title":{"rendered":"Judges Pauses Litigation On Murthy V. Missouri"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudges-pauses-litigation-on-murthy-v-missouri%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2401778&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The ongoing litigation in the \u2062case of *Murthy v.\u2063 Missouri* has been paused by U.S. District Judge Terry \u2062Doughty \u200cfollowing a request \u2062from \u2064former President Joe Biden and his \u200dadministration officials. The case challenges\u2062 government censorship, with the plaintiffs, including Missouri\u200c and\u2063 Louisiana,\u2062 alleging collusion with big Tech to suppress free speech.Recently, Trump&#8217;s executive order aimed at &#8220;Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship&#8221;\u2063 has influenced the case&#8217;s status, leading the\u2062 judge to consider dismissing it as \u200cmoot.<\/p>\n<p>Litigation counsel Jenin Younes\u2063 mentioned that\u200b the stay \u200cis an opportunity \u2064for the judge to evaluate the \u2062executive order&#8217;s impact on the case. \u200cDespite \u200bthis pause, Younes expressed concerns that \u200cthe potential for future censorship persists, especially\u200d if a\u200d subsequent administration reverses current policies.The case has \u2064highlighted\u2064 meaningful evidence of government involvement in censorship,\u200b sparking\u2062 debates about the \u2064integrity of free speech in the \u2064U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, Judge Doughty had issued an injunction against\u200c censorship activities, which the Fifth \u200ccircuit upheld but was ultimately\u200d appealed to \u200dthe Supreme Court, where the plaintiffs were \u2063found to lack standing. A decision regarding the case&#8217;s mootness is expected in\u2062 May, as the\u2064 executive order could influence the future of \u2064the so-called &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-trump-derangement-gave-birth-to-the-censorship-industrial-complex\/\" title=\"How Trump Derangement Gave Birth To The\u00a0...-Industrial\u00a0Complex\">censorship-industrial complex<\/a>.&#8221; Even with\u2062 funding \u2064reductions to related agencies, remnants of prior censorship efforts remain, complicating the \u200dlandscape of \u200bfederal oversight on speech.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>After the Supreme Court declined to rule on the merits of <em>Murthy v. Missouri<\/em>, a federal judge has paused litigation <em>&mdash;<\/em> so efforts to end systematic government censorship could hang in the balance.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.lawd.189520\/gov.uscourts.lawd.189520.434.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">granted<\/a> a motion from the defendants <em>&mdash;<\/em> former President Joe Biden and his top administration officials <em>&mdash;<\/em> to stay the case. Jenin Younes, a litigation counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance representing plaintiffs, told The Federalist the order pauses the case in light of President Donald Trump&rsquo;s executive order &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/01\/restoring-freedom-of-speech-and-ending-federal-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship<\/a>.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The government suggested that we move to stay discovery,&rdquo; Younes said. &ldquo;They want to put in a statement about what effect they think the executive order has. I&rsquo;m guessing they&rsquo;re going to say it makes the case moot.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>If the judge rules the case moot, it will be dismissed as no longer relevant. She said plaintiffs agreed to stay the case so the judge will get a chance to decide, but the censorship-industrial complex could potentially pose an issue in the future.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t staked out our position yet, but there are arguments against mootness,&rdquo; Younes said, &ldquo;especially if there&rsquo;s a chance that could happen again and the executive order won&rsquo;t necessarily be binding on a subsequent administration.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>Murthy &mdash;<\/em> formerly known as <em>Missouri v. Biden &mdash;<\/em> began when plaintiffs, including the states of Missouri and Louisiana, sued Biden and some of his top officials for <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/22\/mark-zuckerberg-confirmed-the-supreme-court-ignored-direct-evidence-of-massive-federal-censorship-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">colluding<\/a> with Big Tech companies to censor speech online, as The Federalist previously reported. The case revealed troves of evidence proving the anti-speech actions of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-order-could-end-the-government-censorship-complex\/\" title=\"Trump ... Could End The ...-... Complex\">censorship-industrial complex &#038;mdash<\/a>; specifically, how the federal government colluded with private corporations to censor things from The New York Post&rsquo;s Hunter Biden laptop <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/10\/30\/us-news\/fbi-tried-to-minimize-hunter-biden-laptop-bombshell-days-before-scoop-as-facebook-exec-warned-against-offending-dems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">story<\/a> to heterodox views of the Covid-19 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/13\/zuckerbergs-rebrand-of-facebooks-role-in-biden-censorship-scheme-refuted-in-facebook-files\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vaccine<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>&ldquo;Murthy<\/em> is ultimately about enabling an enormous <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1633830002742657027\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censorship-industrial complex<\/a> to control individuals&rsquo; conversations &mdash; <em>and by extension, individuals&rsquo; relationships<\/em> &mdash; at the behest of government actors,&rdquo; Stella Morabito previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/05\/murthy-v-missouri-is-not-just-about-coercing-big-tech-but-controling-individuals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> for The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the case, Doughty issued an injunction against these censorship activities, holding that federal officials had carried out &ldquo;the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/22\/mark-zuckerberg-confirmed-the-supreme-court-ignored-direct-evidence-of-massive-federal-censorship-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">most massive attack<\/a> against free speech in United States&rsquo; history,&rdquo; The Federalist previously reported. Defendants appealed to the Fifth Circuit, which upheld <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/10\/05\/fifth-circuit-corrects-critical-error-in-prior-ruling-to-shut-down-deep-state-censorship-tactic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">most<\/a> of Doughty&rsquo;s ruling. The matter went to the Supreme Court last summer, which <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/27\/free-speech-fight-will-go-on-after-supreme-courts-devastating-ruling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> 6-3 plaintiffs &ldquo;failed to establish standing&rdquo; to seek an injunction against the federal government &mdash; despite mountains of evidence. At the time, Younes told The Federalist that NCLA would be &ldquo;pursuing it on the merits&rdquo; by taking it to discovery in district court.<\/p>\n<p>Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/01\/restoring-freedom-of-speech-and-ending-federal-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed<\/a> an executive order on his first day in office to ensure &ldquo;no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.&rdquo; It also said no &ldquo;taxpayer resources&rdquo; may be used to do so, and the government will &ldquo;identify and take appropriate action to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-j6-pardons-signal-the-end-of-the-war-on-wrongthink\/\" title=\"...s J6 Pardons Signal The End Of The War On Wrongthink\">correct past misconduct<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday&rsquo;s order from Doughty extended defendants&rsquo; deadline to submit a statement &ldquo;regarding the <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.lawd.189520\/gov.uscourts.lawd.189520.434.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">effect<\/a> of the executive order on this action&rdquo; until April 7, and plaintiffs&rsquo; deadline until May 7. Younes said the judge will likely decide whether or not the case is moot in mid-to-late May.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The executive order could spell the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/21\/a-trump-executive-order-could-end-the-government-censorship-complex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">end of the censorship-industrial<\/a> complex, as The Federalist noted at the time. But, as executive orders are temporary, a lack of other measures could potentially let a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">future president resume federal censorship activities<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There are still remnants of the Biden regime&rsquo;s censorship apparatus in place. The State Department&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/04\/19\/meet-the-shadowy-group-that-ran-the-federal-governments-censorship-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Global Engagement Center<\/a> funded the London-based Global Disinformation Index, which tried to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/04\/19\/meet-the-shadowy-group-that-ran-the-federal-governments-censorship-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deplatform<\/a> conservative outlets, including The Federalist. So The Federalist, The Daily Wire, and the state of Texas <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/case\/the-daily-wire-the-federalist-state-of-texas-v-department-of-state-et-al\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued<\/a> for First Amendment violations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Congress cut funding for the GEC this year, and the agency <a href=\"https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/IN\/IN12475\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">closed its doors<\/a> in December. But as Gabe Kaminsky with The Washington Examiner reported, the GEC&rsquo;s funding and close to 50 of its employees were rerouted to a new &ldquo;hub&rdquo; &mdash; &ldquo;Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference.&rdquo; It is unclear what Trump&rsquo;s State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio plans to do with this agency.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judge pauses Murthy v. Missouri, impacting censorship efforts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2401780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Gavel-book.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[7580,4784,8584,34615],"class_list":["post-2401778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-judges","tag-litigation","tag-missouri","tag-murthy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Gavel-book.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2401778"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2401782,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401778\/revisions\/2401782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2401780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2401778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}