SCOTUS to hear case on whether private companies can be public forums
The Supreme Court of the United States has decided to hear Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck. At issue in that case is:
(1) Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 2nd Circuit erred in rejecting the Supreme Court’s state actor tests and instead creating a per se rule that private operators of public access channels are state actors subject to constitutional liability; and (2) whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit erred in holding—contrary to the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 6th and District of Columbia Circuits—that private entities operating public access television stations are state actors for constitutional purposes where the state has no control over the private entity’s board or operations.
In lay terms, the case will determine whether a private company (in this case an owner of a public access television channel) can be sued for violations of the First Amendment, or as Amy Howe from SCOTUSBlog put it, “can private property be a public forum?”
This case can have a very significant impact on our cause. When put into a more relevant context; can a private website, like Facebook or Twitter, which is used as a forum for politicians to communicate, censor or ban users?
If it’s determined that sites like Facebook or Nextdoor, for example, are tantamount to the modern-day “public square” – banning individuals would be unconstitutional.
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I’d like to see aclu or one of the non profits submit an amicus breef something like pols are using Facebook as public forum as are so many others that it is no longer just a privet use but has gone way beyond into the public use.
So hypothetically RSOs would no longer be kicked off Facebook due to Facebook’s terms of use. It would be left to vigilante groups to fill that role instead.
Sorry for my cynicism.
I was bumped off Facebook, presumably because I am on the SO registry. No reason was given by Facebook, but their terms of service DO say that sex offenders may not be members.
Yes, I do believe my rights are being deprived me.
Facebook IS a PUBLIC forum and I am being denied what should be my right to access that forum.
It seems to me this also could solidly hold private prisons and their employees accountable.
how so?
With near impunity, prisons for profit notoriously ban publications such as Prison Legal News, which violates the First Amendment rights of not only the publisher but also the inmate. So if SCOTUS rules private entities can be held liable, I am willing to bet more suits will be filed against private prisons and their employees for such violations.
Wait, this means Kavanaugh is a sitting Justice and would see this case?
AWESOME.
Wow…. that came out of nowhere!!! Amazing things can happen with all this!!!