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PEN America, a coalition of writers and journalists – the “enemy of people” united together – filed a federal lawsuit in New York on Tuesday seeking “to stop President Trump from using the machinery of government to retaliate or threaten reprisals against journalists and media outlets for coverage he dislikes.” This time, the “fake-news-makers” are determined to see it through, arguing that “the First Amendment does not protect all speech.”
“Although the president can launch verbal tirades against the press, he cannot use the powers of his office to suppress or punish speech he doesn’t like,” wrote Suzanne Nossel, PEN America CEO, in Politico Tuesday. “When President Trump proposes government retribution against news outlets and reporters, his statements cross the line.”
In the lawsuit, the group distinguishes between Trump’s general statements, such as calling the journalists “the enemy of the American people” and his specific ones, in which he calls out individual journalists, publishers and owners, and media outlets. It noted that these attacks, “while troubling and anti-democratic, are not the basis upon which Plaintiff PEN America seeks relief.”
Today PEN America is suing President Trump for using the power of the state to retaliate against the press, in violation of the First Amendment. https://t.co/eiYitnOqeI
— PEN America (@PENamerican) October 16, 2018
Breaking: PEN America sues Trump over claimed retaliatory actions against media organizations. Lawsuit cites Trump's attacks on the Post (re: Amazon), CNN (re: merger), and NBC (re: broadcast license). https://t.co/LWJwSrLacI pic.twitter.com/ZOC7ILnoRv
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) October 16, 2018
“He has threatened to engage, and has engaged, in conduct intended to retaliate against specific news organizations and journalists whose content and viewpoints displease him,” the lawsuit reads. “Through his actions, Defendant Trump has intentionally conveyed to all writers and journalists that if he objects to their coverage, they may be subject to retaliation by the federal government.”
The suit, written with the help of “leading First Amendment scholars and practitioners in private practice and academia,” outlines four specific examples in which “the president’s credible threats and actual acts of retaliation violate the First Amendment’s protection of a free press and lend credence to concerns that his intimidation goes beyond just rhetoric”:
As backing for its suit, PEN American cites a judicial opinion from 2015 where Judge Richard Posner wrote, “A public official who tries to shut down an avenue of expression of ideas and opinions through actual or threatened imposition of government power or sanction is violating the First Amendment.”
In an open letter explaining the suit, novelist and current PEN president Jennifer Egan and CEO Suzanne Nossel write that the Trump administration’s actions, including calls for individual journalists to be fired, and labeling the media “the enemy of the American people,” has created “an environment of hostility toward the media wherein journalists have been subject to death threats, needed bodyguards to cover political rallies, and have faced attacks in their newsrooms. The president has also threatened book publishers and authors who have published critical volumes. While many media outlets are unrelenting in their robust coverage, individual writers may think twice before publishing pieces or commentary that could put them in the White House’s crosshairs.”
Time for a good read: novelist Jenny Egan, Pulitzer prize winner & president of @PENamerican explains briefly why we are suing POTUS for violating the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:https://t.co/zjj2UqZ9Fa
— Thomas O Melia (@thomasomelia) October 18, 2018
As a consequence, “individual writers may think twice before publishing pieces or commentary that could put them in the White House’s crosshairs,” warn Egan and Nossel.
“Our country’s broad protections for free speech allow the president to denigrate the press and even go after individual journalists by name. However, when President Trump crosses the line and threatens to use his authority to punish the media, or actually does so, it is vital for the courts to step in and affirm that such threats and reprisals are unconstitutional. We have worked closely with leading First Amendment scholars and practitioners in private practice and academia in order to hone a request to the court to do just that.”
Meanwhile, the whole story is not as unequivocal as it may seem. Actually, Trump does not shut down anyone’s free speech, if only because he’s not stopping any media outlet from producing their content.
The coalition also neglected to mention that the media’s hyperbolic and oftentimes false rhetoric has caused members of the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to likewise be inundated with death threats, harassment, and sometimes even assault.
Appearances can be deceiving, can they not?
You got to be kidding. What’s the damages? Trump makes money and ratings for the press, especially Politico! If Trump didn’t exist you guys would have to invent him to stay alive.
— John Marke (@JohnAMDG) October 16, 2018
So the press can mislead, lie, make up false claims and headlines, and you want to sue ? This will help gain trust [ ????????] ,
— angela (@acmom62) October 16, 2018
Trump has yet to respond to the suit.