Judge Grants RFK Jr.'s Motion to Consolidate Free Speech Case With GOP AGs' Suit

District Court for Western Louisiana in Monroe. Biden defendants didn't oppose the motion to consolidate provided standing is established by the plaintiffs in Kennedy v. Biden, but four individual Missouri plaintiffs objected, filing an opposition last week (see 2307210011) saying they “have no desire to have their legal claims tainted by political wrangling or the tabloid atmosphere that has come to accompany national elections.” The individual plaintiffs also alleged consolidation would likely result in disagreements among counsel for plaintiffs. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) and Louisiana AG Jeff Landry (R) didn't oppose consolidation. Both lawsuits, against nearly 70 individuals and agencies of the federal government, allege First Amendment violations involving suppression of speech about COVID-19, vaccine information and mask mandates. In his order Monday, Doughty noted consolidation doesn’t merge the two cases into one, but the primary factor is “the existence of common questions of law or fact.” The purpose of consolidation is to promote “convenience and economy while avoiding waste and inefficiency,” he said. In Missouri v. Biden, government defendants filed an emergency motion to stay Doughty’s July 4 preliminary injunction in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which blocked dozens of Biden administration officials from conversing with social media companies about content moderation. Oral arguments are scheduled for Aug. 10 in the appeals court; no trial date has been set. In Kennedy v. Biden, a motion for preliminary injunction has been filed and briefed, but no ruling has been made and no trial date set. The two cases should be consolidated because most of the factors “weigh in favor of consolidation,” Doughty said. “The issue of suppression of free speech by the government by coercing and/or significantly encouraging social media platforms is the same,” he said, and both cases involve the exact same defendants and are pending in the same district before the same judge. Doughty won’t rule on the preliminary injunction in Kennedy v. Biden until after a ruling by the 5th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court on the preliminary injunction in Missouri v. Biden, he said: “That will keep the consolidation from complicating the matter on appeal and will likely result in a more streamlined resolution of the preliminary injunction in Kennedy v. Biden.” Commenting on the individual plaintiffs’ concerns about politics-related prejudice, Doughty said, “This court does not decide cases based on politics, but based on the United States Constitution."