SFGATE: Judge: President can't block critics on Twitter

Judge: President can't block critics on Twitter
Published on May 23, 2018 at 11:11PM by
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in New York says President Donald Trump violates the First Amendment by blocking critics on Twitter for political speech. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald (rees BUHK'-wahld) in Manhattan issued the written decision Wednesday. In ruling, she said no government official — including the president — is above the law. The case was brought last July by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and seven individuals blocked by Trump after criticizing the Republican president. After a hearing this year, the judge had suggested that Trump mute rather than block some of his critics. At the time, a Justice Department attorney agreed that muting would enable Trump to avoid a tweet he doesn't want to read.