WEBVTT - Lawsuit Challenging Trump From Blocking Twitter Users (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Well, that was time for our daily Bloomberg Law Brief,

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<v Speaker 1>exploring legal issues in the news, and today, Bloomberg Law

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<v Speaker 1>host Jim Grosso and Greg Store discuss a lawsuit challenging

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<v Speaker 1>President Trump's ability to block users on Twitter. They speak

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<v Speaker 1>with said Krishna Prakash, a professor at the University of

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<v Speaker 1>Virginia Law School, and Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the

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<v Speaker 1>University of Texas Law School. Steve, the group of seven

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<v Speaker 1>Twitter users range from a former police officer to a writer,

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<v Speaker 1>tell us the argument that the First Amendment group is

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<v Speaker 1>making on their behalf. Sure, I mean, I think the

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<v Speaker 1>basic gist of their claim June is that the President's

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<v Speaker 1>Twitter account is part of his job responsibilities. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>public forum. It's a place where he hands down official

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<v Speaker 1>statement at a place where he disseminates news. Um and

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<v Speaker 1>by preventing individual users from access in that forum for

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<v Speaker 1>what are at least from the allegations, content based reasons

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<v Speaker 1>the press and is discriminated on the basis of the

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<v Speaker 1>content of his user's speech against him, um and that

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<v Speaker 1>he's blocked to them basically because they have a viewpoint

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<v Speaker 1>with which he disagrees. You know, in a normal context,

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<v Speaker 1>if a government official we're shutting out particular speakers based

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<v Speaker 1>on their viewpoint, that would receive the highest scrutiny under

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<v Speaker 1>the First Amendment and would typically be struck down by

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<v Speaker 1>the courts. And so I we're still at a pretty

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<v Speaker 1>early stage in this litigation, but give us an overview

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<v Speaker 1>of what it looks like the Justice Department's defense of

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump is going to be here. Well, the Justice

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<v Speaker 1>Development filed the letter with the court and basically made

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<v Speaker 1>to two different claims. One was that, UM, this you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the website, UM is not a public forum. The president

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<v Speaker 1>had this Twitter account before he was president, UM, I

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<v Speaker 1>presumably will have it after he's president, and he's using

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<v Speaker 1>it to communicate with people, but it's not UM. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not on a official website, our official Twitter handle for

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<v Speaker 1>the government. There's a separate White House Twitter feed for that.

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<v Speaker 1>And then they're separately saying and Stephens very familiar with us.

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<v Speaker 1>They're separately saying that you can't enjoy the president. Under

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<v Speaker 1>some Supreme Court cases going back to right after the

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<v Speaker 1>Civil War, you can't enjoin the president in his official duties.

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<v Speaker 1>And so they're saying, want it's not a public form

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<v Speaker 1>contrary to what the plaintiffs are saying, and too, even

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<v Speaker 1>if it is, you can't tell the President to stop

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<v Speaker 1>blocking these people from his Twitter account. Yes I Krishna

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<v Speaker 1>practas a professor at the University of Virginia Law School,

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<v Speaker 1>and Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas

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<v Speaker 1>Law School, speaking with Bloomberg Law host Jun Grosso. You

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<v Speaker 1>can listen to Bloomberg Law weekdays at one pm Wall

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<v Speaker 1>Street Time here on Bloomberg Radio, and that is this

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<v Speaker 1>morning's Bloomberg Law Brief. You can find more legal news

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