Donald Trump is challenging a federal appeals court decision that ruled he violated the U.S. Constitution by blocking critics on Twitter.
In court papers filed late on Friday by the U.S. Justice Department, Trump sought a rehearing by the full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, calling the 3-0 decision ‘fundamentally misconceived.’
Trump has more than 63 million followers on Twitter, and often uses his account to make significant announcements, including Friday when his tweets about trade with China sent U.S. stock and oil prices down sharply.
Both Twitter Inc and the White House declined to comment on the challenge to the ruling.
Donald Trump, (pictured), is challenging a federal appeals court decision that ruled he violated the U.S. Constitution by blocking critics on Twitter
The request comes following a three-judge appellate panel deciding in July that the decision by Trump to block Twitter users was unconstitutional
The three-judge panel last month upheld a May 2018 lower court ruling that forced Trump to unblock several dozen followers.
The judge in the original case ruled that Trump may not legally block Twitter users because doing so violates their right to free speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The Justice Department, which has represented Trump in the lawsuit, called the case one of ‘exceptional importance.’
The department maintains that Trump’s Twitter account is his personal account and will remain his handle after he leaves office.
‘The importance of en banc review here is underscored because the panel’s novel and mistaken First Amendment reasoning is being applied not just to any public official, but to the President of United States,’ the department wrote in Friday’s petition.
‘Accordingly, en banc rehearing should be granted,’ according to CNN.
‘We hold that he engaged in such discrimination,’ the ruling added.
A ruling in May by U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan came in response to a lawsuit filed against Trump by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and several Twitter users.
Buchwald agreed with the plaintiffs’ contention that the discussions arising from Trump’s tweets should be considered a public forum.
She rejected an argument made by Justice Department lawyers that Trump’s own First Amendment rights allowed him to block people with whom he did not wish to interact.
Buchwald signed off on the ruling but many of the accounts had remained unblocked a couple of days later.
Among the critics he had blocked on the social media forum are Chrissy Teigen, Rosie O’Donnell and Stephen King.
Trump has blocked critics from accessing his Twitter account in the past including Chrissy Teigen
Donald Trump has blocked The View co-host Rosie O’Donnell as she has feuded with the president for years, ever since she called him a ‘snake oil salesman’ in 2006
The lawsuit was filed over the Twitter account with the handle, @realDonaldTrump, which has been used by Trump for nine years and has more than 60 million followers.
Justice Department lawyers had argued it was Trump’s prerogative to block followers. But Buchwald ruled that the tweets were ‘governmental in nature.’
‘The President presents the @realDonaldTrump account as being a presidential account as opposed to a personal account and, more importantly, uses the account to take actions that can be taken only by the President as President,’ the judge said.
The judge noted that another defendant, Daniel Scavino – the White House’s social media director and an assistant to the president – can unblock those followers without the president needing to do it himself.
A judge had ruled in New York that Trump may not legally block Twitter users because doing so violates their right to free speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution
A judge agreed with the plaintiffs’ contention that the discussions arising from Trump’s tweets should be considered a public forum
Buchwald also said she recognized the impact on the individuals by Trump’s action was not ‘of the highest magnitude.’ She said the First Amendment protects people even from trivial harm.
The judge did not issue an order against Trump, and the plaintiffs did not ask for one. But in cases like this, plaintiffs can, in theory, go back and ask for such an order, and if it is not obeyed, the violator can be held in contempt.
Buchwald said she rejected the assertion that an injunction can never be lodged against the president but ‘nonetheless conclude that it is unnecessary to enter that legal thicket at this time.’
Teigen took to Twitter after the news broke to tweet at the president saying: ‘well well well we meet again’, after he blocked her last year.
Stephen King was blocked by Donald Trump last year King after speaking out about on several occasions
It is believed Stephen King was blocked following his most recent tweets about the president’s administration
Eugene Volokh, a University of California Los Angeles School of Law professor who specializes in First Amendment issues, said the decision´s effect would reach beyond Trump.
‘It would end up applying to a wide range of government officials throughout the country,’ he said.
The individual plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Philip Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland; Holly Figueroa, described in the complaint as a political organizer and songwriter in Washington state; and Brandon Neely, a Texas police officer.
Cohen, who was blocked from Trump’s account last June after posting an image of the president with words ‘Corrupt Incompetent Authoritarian,’ said he was ‘delighted’ with Wednesday’s decision.
‘This increases my faith in the system a little,’ he said.
Trump was a prolific tweeter from his @RealDonaldTrump account even before being elected in 2016 and has since made it an integral and controversial part of his presidency.
Aides reportedly have tried to rein in his tweeting, which often starts early in the morning.
But he has remained unfettered and used Twitter to promote his agenda, announce policy and attack critics, especially the media, and the investigation into possible Russian connections with his campaign.