Bloomberg
US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan refused to stop Washington state officials from disciplining doctors who spread misinformation about Covid-19.
In an order on Wednesday, Kagan denied the emergency request that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine group filed with physicians on Nov. 4 asking for an injunction against Washington Attorney General Robert Ferguson and the head of the state’s medical commission.
As the justice assigned to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Kagan can act alone on matters pending from that geographic area, which covers nine states and two territories, or refer the matter to the full court for its review. The doctors and Kennedy’s group Children’s Health Defense were hoping she would do the latter.
They argue Washington officials are violating their First Amendment free speech rights by investigating and sanctioning state-licensed physicians for publicly expressing their views on Covid-19.
The district court refused to issue a preliminary injunction in their challenge to the state’s enforcement and dismissed the case, finding their claims constitutionally unripe.
The trial court said the state’s medical commission hasn’t sanctioned any of the physicians for their speech and the investigations haven’t stopped the doctors or the Children’s Health Defense from pressing their narratives about Covid-19.
Even if the doctors and activist group had presented a plausible First Amendment challenge, the trial court said it couldn’t grant them relief because the medical commission can fully regulate professional conduct of physicians licensed to practice in the state even though that conduct incidentally involves speech. The Ninth Circuit then denied their request for a preliminary injunction pending appeal.
Kennedy is President-elect Donald Trump’s selection to head the Health and Services Department.
The case is Stockton v. Ferguson, U.S., No. 24A440.
