No. 23-342

X Corp., fka Twitter, Inc. v. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, et al.

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2023-10-02
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Amici (2) Experienced Counsel
Tags: civil-rights content-based-restriction disclosure due-process first-amendment free-speech government-surveillance national-security prior-restraint speech-restriction
Key Terms:
FirstAmendment Securities Privacy
Latest Conference: 2024-01-05
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the Government's prohibition on disclosure of the receipt of national security process is unconstitutional in the absence of the procedural requirements for prior restraints on speech specified in Freedman

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED The U.S. Government conducts surveillance of Americans and foreign nationals by issuing “national security process” to electronic communication service providers such as petitioner X Corp., which operates the online platform formerly known as Twitter. The Executive Branch deems information relating to this process classified, making disclosure of such information unlawful unless the disclosure falls within a narrow statutory safe harbor. This scheme precludes the release of much information that is of significant importance and interest to the public. In this case, the Ninth Circuit—expressly rejecting the contrary holding of the Second Circuit—held that restrictions on speech addressing a recipient’s receipt of national security process are not subject to the procedural requirements outlined in Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U.S. 51 (1965), which (among other things) mandates prompt judicial review of government censorship. The Ninth Circuit also declined to subject the censorship scheme to the sort of exacting scrutiny accorded prior restraints on speech in other contexts. The questions presented are: 1. Whether the Government’s prohibition on disclosure of the receipt of national security process is unconstitutional in the absence of the procedural requirements for prior restraints on speech specified in Freedman. 2. Whether the Government’s prohibition on disclosure of the receipt of national security process should be subjected to the same extraordinarily exacting scrutiny generally applied to content-based prior restraints on speech.

Docket Entries

2024-01-08
Petition DENIED.
2023-12-20
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2024.
2023-12-20
2023-12-06
Brief of respondents Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, et al. in opposition filed.
2023-11-17
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including December 6, 2023.
2023-11-15
Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 1, 2023 to December 6, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
2023-11-01
2023-11-01
Brief amicus curiae of ASU College of Law First Amendment Clinic filed.
2023-10-16
Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including December 1, 2023.
2023-10-13
Motion to extend the time to file a response from November 1, 2023 to December 1, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
2023-09-28
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 1, 2023)
2023-07-31
Application (23A84) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until September 28, 2023.
2023-07-26
Application (23A84) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from August 14, 2023 to September 28, 2023, submitted to Justice Kagan.

Attorneys

ASU College of Law First Amendment Clinic
Gregg P. LeslieASU College of Law First Amendment Clinic, Amicus
Gregg P. LeslieASU College of Law First Amendment Clinic, Amicus
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Andrew Gellis CrockerElectronic Frontier Foundation, Amicus
Andrew Gellis CrockerElectronic Frontier Foundation, Amicus
Garland, Merrick B., et al.
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent
Elizabeth B. PrelogarSolicitor General, Respondent
X Corp.
Charles RothfeldMayer Brown LLP, Petitioner
Charles RothfeldMayer Brown LLP, Petitioner